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The Atlanta Dream are coming off a two-week road trip where they went 3-3, but found more success toward the end of the trip. One of the reasons for their success was the play of Brittney Griner, who had a strong game in their win against the Minnesota Lynx, finishing with 22 points. In the game against the Phoenix Mercury, she finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Head coach Karl Smesko spoke about Griner's play over the course of the road trip.
“I really think the last handful of games, like starting at Chicago, and then the three games since we've been back from the break, she just looks really comfortable out there,” Smesko said before their game against the Golden State Valkyries. “You know, she has an assortment of offensive moves.
“And if you just take the Minnesota game, they're playing her one-on-one in the post to begin the game, and she was just scoring in a variety of ways, and then they decided to start doubling, and she started kicking it out to shooters and making the right read, she just, overall, played a great game, and definitely wouldn't have been able to beat Minnesota without a great game from her.”
It's good that Griner is starting to find a rhythm at the right time, and if she continues to play like this, the Dream will have a good second half of the season.
Brittney Griner heating up for Dream at the right time
Griner has started to find a rhythm over the past few games for the Dream, and she's making things easier for the team on both sides of the ball. She's still one of the more dominant forces in the paint, and it usually takes two people to stop her. That's what happened against the Lynx, where she started to dominate her matchup, and they had to start double-teaming her. Griner is then able to pass out to her teammates for an open shot.
Brionna Jones, who was also a free agent addition this offseason, has been playing well alongside Griner as well. She spoke about their partnership during All-Star Weekend.
“I think it's just our willingness to be able to play off of each other. We're both dominant in the paint, so just being able to give each other that space and be able to know that I could get it inside to her and she can get it inside to me…. It's a hard matchup for some teams,” Jones said.
