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
Record7–15 (.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 (WNBA). The season began on 26 July 2020, against the Dallas Wings. [1]

Contents

On 18 October 2019, the Dream unveiled a rebranded logo and color scheme ahead of the new season. [2] The team was originally scheduled to 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 3 April 2020 , when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] Under a plan approved on 15 June 2020, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans in attendance, beginning on 24 July 2020. [6] [7]

The Dream started the season promisingly, winning two of their first three games, but then suffered a ten game losing streak. 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.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 5 Flag of the United States.svg Agnew, Jaylyn 5' 11" (1.8m)149 lb (68kg)1997-07-21 Creighton R
F 25 Flag of the United States.svg Billings, Monique 6' 4" (1.93m)192 lb (87kg)1996-05-02 UCLA 2
F 20 Flag of the United States.svg Brewer, Brittany 6' 5" (1.96m)182 lb (83kg)1997-11-06 Texas Tech R
C 22 Flag of the United States.svg Brown, Kalani 6' 7" (2.01m)245 lb (111kg)1997-03-21 Baylor 1
G 3 Flag of the United States.svg Carter, Chennedy 5' 9" (1.75m)143 lb (65kg)1998-11-14 Texas A&M R
F 33 Flag of the United States.svg Davis, Kaela 6' 2" (1.88m)170 lb (77kg)1995-03-15 South Carolina 3
G 11 Flag of the United States.svg Dietrick, Blake 5' 10" (1.78m)169 lb (77kg)1993-07-19 Princeton 3
F 0 Flag of Montenegro.svg Johnson, Glory 6' 3" (1.91m)170 lb (77kg)1990-07-27 Tennessee 7
G/F 44 Flag of the United States.svg Laney, Betnijah 6' 0" (1.83m)166 lb (75kg)1993-10-29 Rutgers 4
F 40 Flag of the United States.svg Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m)230 lb (104kg)1990-07-30 Tennessee 8
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m)133 lb (60kg)1994-05-11 South Florida 4
F/C 1 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Elizabeth 6' 3" (1.91m)200 lb (91kg)1993-06-23 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
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (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.
1x – Las Vegas Aces 184.818–8–2
2x – Seattle Storm 184.818–8–2
3x – Los Angeles Sparks 157.68235–5
4x – Minnesota Lynx 148.63644–6
5x – Phoenix Mercury 139.59154–6
6x – Chicago Sky 1210.54566–4
7x – Connecticut Sun 1012.45587–3
8x – Washington Mystics 913.40996–4
9e – Dallas Wings 814.364101–9
10e – Atlanta Dream 715.318115–5
11e – Indiana Fever 616.273124–6
12e – New 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]

References

  1. ↑ "Atlanta Dream 2020 Season Schedule". WNBA.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  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.
  4. ↑ "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  6. ↑ "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  7. ↑ "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  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.
  20. ↑ "Hayes Opts Out for 2020 Season". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  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.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.