2020 Atlanta Dream season

Last updated

2020 Atlanta Dream season
Coach Nicki Collen
ArenaOriginally: Gateway Center Arena
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance0 per game
Results
Record715 (.318)
Place4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
Points Chennedy Carter – 17.4
Rebounds Monique Billings – 8.5
Assists Betnijah Laney – 4.0

The 2020 WNBA season was the 13th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began its season on July 26, 2020, against the Dallas Wings. [1]

Contents

On October 18, 2019, the Dream unveiled a rebrand of their logo and color scheme for their upcoming season. [2] The Dream was originally scheduled to start play its home games at the new Gateway Center Arena at College Park, electing to move from State Farm Arena in the 2019 off-season. [3] The WNBA season was to have a 36-game schedule, which would have been the most games in a season in league history. [4] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24. [6] [7]

The Dream started the season promisingly, winning two of their first three games. That promise was short lived, as the team lost their next ten games in a row. After the ten game losing streak was broken, the Dream lost their next two games to finish August with a 3–13 record, and a slim hope at making the playoffs. September proved to be a turn in fortunes for the Dream. They recorded four wins in five games to go into their final game against the Washington Mystics, with a chance to make the playoffs. However, Washington prevailed and the Dream missed the playoffs. Their overall winning percentage of .318 was the third worst in team history.

Transactions

WNBA draft

The Dream made the following selections in the 2020 WNBA draft.

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/team/country
14 Chennedy Carter Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Texas A&M
217 Brittany Brewer Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Texas Tech
325 Mikayla Pivec Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Oregon State
327 Kobi Thornton Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Clemson

Trades and roster changes

DateDetails
January 21, 2020Exercised 4th-year Team tption on Marie Gülich and Monique Billings
Extended a qualifying offer to Alaina Coates
January 22, 2020Renounced the rights to Celine Dumerc and Isabelle Yacoubou
February 10, 2020Traded Brittney Sykes and Marie Gülich to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for Kalani Brown [8]
February 12, 2020Signed Glory Johnson [9]
February 16, 2020Signed Shekinna Stricklen [10]
February 18, 2020Claimed Alexis Jones off waivers [11]
February 19, 2020Traded Jessica Breland and Nia Coffey to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Courtney Williams and the 17th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft from the Connecticut Sun, as part of a 3-team trade [12]
February 23, 2020Signed Blake Dietrick to a training-camp contract [13]
February 25, 2020Signed Elīna Babkina to a training-camp contract [14]
April 16, 2020Signed Alaina Coates to a training-camp contract [15]
April 19, 2020Signed Mikayla Pivec to a rookie-scale contract
April 20, 2020Signed Brittany Brewer to a rookie-scale contract
April 23, 2020Signed Chennedy Carter to a rookie-scale contract
April 27, 2020Waived Alaina Coates
May 23, 2020Waived Elīna Babkina [16]
May 24, 2020Full season suspension of Maite Cazorla due to her sitting out the 2020 season for personal reasons [17]
May 25, 2020Full season suspension of Mikayla Pivec due to her sitting out the 2020 season for personal reasons [18]
June 18, 2020 Renee Montgomery opted out of the 2020 season [19]
June 23, 2020 Tiffany Hayes opted out of the 2020 season [20]
June 24, 2020Signed Betnijah Laney and Jaylyn Agnew [21]
July 12, 2020Signed Erica McCall to a hardship contract [22]
July 29, 2020Released Erica McCall from her Hhrdship contract
August 23, 2020Waived Alexis Jones
Signed Kaela Davis to a 7-day contract [23]
August 31, 2020Signed Kaela Davis to a 2nd 7-day contract
September 7, 2020Signed Kaela Davis

Roster

2020 Atlanta Dream roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 5 Flag of the United States.svg Agnew, Jaylyn 5' 11" (1.8m)149 lb (68kg)07-21-1997 Creighton R
F 25 Flag of the United States.svg Billings, Monique 6' 4" (1.93m)192 lb (87kg)05-02-1996 UCLA 2
F 20 Flag of the United States.svg Brewer, Brittany 6' 5" (1.96m)182 lb (83kg)11-06-1997 Texas Tech R
C 22 Flag of the United States.svg Brown, Kalani 6' 7" (2.01m)245 lb (111kg)03-21-1997 Baylor 1
G 3 Flag of the United States.svg Carter, Chennedy 5' 9" (1.75m)143 lb (65kg)11-14-1998 Texas A&M R
F 33 Flag of the United States.svg Davis, Kaela 6' 2" (1.88m)170 lb (77kg)03-15-1995 South Carolina 3
G 11 Flag of the United States.svg Dietrick, Blake 5' 10" (1.78m)169 lb (77kg)07-19-1993 Princeton 3
F 0 Flag of Montenegro.svg Johnson, Glory 6' 3" (1.91m)170 lb (77kg)07-27-1990 Tennessee 7
G/F 44 Flag of the United States.svg Laney, Betnijah 6' 0" (1.83m)166 lb (75kg)10-29-1993 Rutgers 4
F 40 Flag of the United States.svg Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m)230 lb (104kg)07-30-1990 Tennessee 8
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m)133 lb (60kg)05-11-1994 South Florida 4
F/C 1 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Elizabeth 6' 3" (1.91m)200 lb (91kg)06-23-1993 Duke 5
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Nicki Collen (Marquette)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Mike Peterson (Bushnell)
Flag of the United States.svg Darius Taylor (Michigan)
Athletic trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Natalie Trotter
Strength and conditioning coach
Flag of the United States.svg Jamal Baptiste

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Depth

Pos.StarterBench
C Elizabeth Williams Kalani Brown
Brittany Brewer
PF Monique Billings Glory Johnson
SF Betnijah Laney Shekinna Stricklen
Kaela Davis
SG Courtney Williams Jaylyn Agnew
PG Chennedy Carter Blake Dietrick

Schedule

Regular season

2020 game log
Regular season total: 7–15
July
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
1July 26 Dallas W 105–95 Billings (30) Billings (13) Carter (8) IMG Academy 1–0
2July 29 Las Vegas L 70–100 E. Williams (16) Billings (7)Tied (4)IMG Academy1–1
3July 31 New York W 84–78 Laney (30) Billings (15) Carter (3)IMG Academy2–1
August
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
4August 2 Indiana L 77–93 C. Williams (18) Billings (8) Laney (6) IMG Academy 2–2
5August 4 Phoenix L 74–81 Carter (26) C. Williams (9) Laney (5)IMG Academy2–3
6August 6 Seattle L 92–93 Carter (35) C. Williams (10) Carter (7)IMG Academy2–4
7August 8 Dallas L 75–85 Laney (16)Tied (7)3 tied (3)IMG Academy2–5
8August 10 Connecticut L 82–93 Stricklen (18) C. Williams (7) Dietrick (6)IMG Academy2–6
9August 12 Seattle L 63–100 Laney (17)Tied (7) Dietrick (4)IMG Academy2–7
10August 14 Phoenix L 80–96 Laney (16) C. Williams (14) Dietrick (7)IMG Academy2–8
11August 16 Chicago L 67–92 C. Williams (15) Billings (8)Tied (4)IMG Academy2–9
12August 19 Washington L 91–98 Laney (35) Billings (12) C. Williams (7)IMG Academy2–10
13August 21 Los Angeles L 85–93 (OT) Johnson (23) Billings (9) Laney (11)IMG Academy2–11
14August 23 Minnesota W 78–75 Tied (16) Billings (13) Laney (10)IMG Academy3–11
15August 28 Minnesota L 79–88 Laney (22) C. Williams (10)Tied (5)IMG Academy3–12
16August 30 Los Angeles L 79–84 Carter (26) Billings (14) Dietrick (5)IMG Academy3–13
September
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
17September 1 Indiana W 102–90 Tied (22) Johnson (8) Carter (6) IMG Academy 4–13
18September 3 New York W 62–56 C. Williams (15) C. Williams (13) Laney (3)IMG Academy5–13
19September 5 Las Vegas L 79–89 Laney (21)3 tied (7) Carter (6)IMG Academy5–14
20September 9 Chicago W 97–89 Laney (24)3 tied (10)Tied (5)IMG Academy6–14
21September 11 Connecticut W 82–75 Carter (22) Laney (10)Tied (4)IMG Academy7–14
22September 13 Washington L 78–85 Laney (27) C. Williams (11) Dietrick (4)IMG Academy7–15
2020 season schedule

Standings

#Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1xLas Vegas Aces 184.8188–2
2xSeattle Storm 184.8188–2
3xLos Angeles Sparks 157.68235–5
4xMinnesota Lynx 148.63644–6
5xPhoenix Mercury 139.59154–6
6xChicago Sky 1210.54566–4
7xConnecticut Sun 1012.45587–3
8xWashington Mystics 913.40996–4
9eDallas Wings 814.364101–9
10eAtlanta Dream 715.318115–5
11eIndiana Fever 616.273124–6
12eNew York Liberty 220.091162–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
Source

Statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage 3P%  3-point field-goal percentage FT%  Free-throw percentage TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per gameTeam leaderLeague leader

Regular season

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Chennedy Carter 161625.447.337.582.12.33.40.90.317.4
Betnijah Laney 222233.348.140.582.74.94.01.60.117.2
Courtney Williams 201430.543.623.569.67.23.20.70.114.6
Elizabeth Williams 222229.248.9074.25.71.40.81.410.1
Monique Billings 221627.140.0076.18.51.21.10.88.5
Shekinna Stricklen 221521.734.133.31001.90.60.306.1
Blake Dietrick 22421.047.144.862.51.63.40.80.15.9
Glory Johnson 18115.137.326.250.03.70.60.80.44.7
Kalani Brown 1006.152.2060.01.200.10.13.0
Jaylyn Agnew 1205.926.723.180.00.40.3001.3
Brittany Brewer 506.666.7001.000.60.80.8
Kaela Davis 201.000000000

Awards and honors

RecipientAwardDate awardedRef.
Betnijah Laney Most Improved Player September 24 [24]
WNBA All-Defense 1st Team September 29 [25]
Chennedy Carter All-Rookie Team September 27 [26]
Elizabeth Williams WNBA All-Defense 1st Team September 29 [25]

Related Research Articles

The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Washington Mystics were the defending champions. Planned changes to the league's schedule included an increase from 34 to 36 regular season games for each team, the introduction of a mid-season Commissioner's Cup tournament, and more games broadcast on ESPN and ABC. This was the first season under a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the WNBA Players Association. However, on April 3, the season was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plan approved on June 15, the league began a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, without fans present on July 25. A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces was named the league MVP. The Seattle Storm won the 2020 WNBA Finals over the Aces, and Breanna Stewart was named the Finals MVP.

The 2021 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 14, 2021, versus the Phoenix Mercury.

The 2021 WNBA season was the 14th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began the season on May 14, 2021 at home against the Connecticut Sun.

The 2022 WNBA season was the 15th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began the season on May 14, 2022, on the road against the Dallas Wings.

The 2022 WNBA season is the current and 24th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, versus the Seattle Storm.

The 2022 New York Liberty season was the 26th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on May 7, 2022, versus the Connecticut Sun.

The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.

The 2022 Seattle Storm season was the franchise's 23rd season in the Women's National Basketball Association. This was the first season back in the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena.

The 2022 Washington Mystics season is the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season will tip off versus the Indiana Fever on May 6, 2022.

The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.

The 2023 Atlanta Dream season was the 16th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association, and their second season under head coach Tanisha Wright.

The 2023 New York Liberty season was the 27th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA, and their second season under head coach Sandy Brondello.

The 2023 WNBA season was the 27th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the first season under head coach Curt Miller. The season tipped off on May 19, 2023, versus the Phoenix Mercury.

The 2023 Minnesota Lynx season was the 25th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the fourteenth season under head coach Cheryl Reeve.

The 2023 Seattle Storm season was the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the second full season under head coach Noelle Quinn. Quinn took over in May of the 2021 season.

The 2023 WNBA season was the 27th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, repeated as champions after defeating the New York Liberty 3 games to 1 in the Finals.

The 2024 Atlanta Dream season is the 17th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association, and their third season under head coach Tanisha Wright.

References

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  2. "Atlanta Dream Unveil Bold New Brand". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  3. "Atlanta Dream Announces New Home Court at Gateway Center in College Park" (Press release). Atlanta Dream. October 18, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
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  8. "Dream Acquire Kalani Brown From Los Angeles". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  9. "Atlanta Dream Sign Free-Agent Forward Glory Johnson". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  10. "Shekinna Stricklen Signs Multi-Year Deal with Dream". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  11. "Atlanta Dream Claim Alexis Jones Off Waivers". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  12. "Dream Acquire Courtney Williams In Three-Team Trade". dream.wnba.com. Atlanta Dream. February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  13. "Blake Dietrick Returning to Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  14. "Atlanta Dream Signs Guard Elīna Babkina". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  15. Atlanta Dream PR [@ATLDreamPR] (April 16, 2020). "TRANSACTION: Atlanta Dream sign Alaina Coates to a training camp contract" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  16. Atlanta Dream PR [@ATLDreamPR] (May 23, 2020). "TRANSACTION: The Dream have waived Elīna Babkina" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  17. Atlanta Dream PR [@ATLDreamPR] (May 24, 2020). "Maite Cazorla has chosen to stay in Spain and will miss the 2020 Atlanta Dream season due to personal reasons. We look forward to welcoming her back in 2021" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  18. Atlanta Dream PR [@ATLDreamPR] (May 25, 2020). "Mikayla Pivec has chosen to sit out the 2020 WNBA season for personal reasons and will be suspended by the Atlanta Dream. We look forward to having Pivec attend training camp in 2021" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  19. "Montgomery to Miss 2020 Atlanta Dream Season". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
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  21. "Dream Add Free Agents Laney, Agnew". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  22. "Atlanta Signs Free Agent Forward Erica McCall". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  23. "Atlanta Signs Free Agent Forward-Guard Kaela Davis". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  24. "Atlanta Dream's Betnijah Laney Named 2020 Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  25. 1 2 "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  26. "Rookie Of The Year Crystal Dangerfield Headlines 2020 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.