Sophie Cunningham has spoken about the Atlanta Dream’s decision to develop Angel Reese’s game as a three-point shooter late in the season during the WNBA playoffs.
Cunningham mentioned the move on her “No Hesitation” podcast with trainer Drew Hanlen during an episode that was published Friday. She initially was surprised that Atlanta was working with Reese on shooting in the playoffs but also understood its usefulness.
Cunningham’s comments came after the Dream completed a commanding 97-71 win over the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday in Game 3 of the Finals and now lead the best-of-five set 2-1.
Reese scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the victory while shooting 2-for-2 from deep, which marked her third straight game of making at least one three-point shot and also gave Atlanta a perfect record when she has made at least one three (regular season or playoffs) in her career.
“I think that’s why it’s a unique time for [Smesko] to bring the team around and have her make two in a row,” Cunningham said of Smesko working with Reese on the perimeter.
“And so I’m not going to lie, I thought it was kind of weird. I was like, ‘This isn’t the time to be working on a new craft. That’s an offseason thing, or maybe an early in-season thing.’ “But her confidence is going to be the game changer,” she added.
“And if she can knock down, like I said, even just one of them, two, three, whatever, that’s going to bring her confidence up.
That’s going to bring her team’s confidence up. Maybe she kills in the lane. Maybe that hypes her up to play even better defense than what she’s been playing. And so I do like what it does mentally for her and the team.
So I’ll leave it at that.”Reese has made a marked jump from deep late in the season, running her career and regular-season three-point shooting around 20 percent or just below that to hitting about 35-36 percent for Atlanta earlier in the playoffs.
In fact, her offseason focus on extending her shooting range, by teaching her proper mechanics, had been credited with increasing her ability to threaten out to the three-point arc beyond Atlanta’s baskets, in addition to Reese’s dominant rebounding and defensive skills that earned her Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Cunningham provided a more measured but insightful opinion on her play on the latest episode as the Fever’s season was over. “I think, from what I’ve seen so far, I think her team played some pretty good defense and their roster is very deep,” she said.
“I think that was the positive thing. … You’ve got the height advantage. But at the same time, in the semifinals, I was kind of disappointed with what I saw, with the physicality and the way the refs were calling the game, you know, with how they were playing.
And I was surprised to see some things that I don’t want to get into, but I know how I want the refs to call some stuff. So I hope the refs were hearing this.
“They’re certainly hearing from her about Reese and the Dream now. With one win over the Valkyries away from a title, her boosting her outside shooting arm has a chance to be a difference maker.