The Atlanta Dream start Commissioner’s Cup with back-to-back losses

The Atlanta Dream started this year’s Commissioner’s Cup with a pair of double-digit losses at home. The team lost to the Connecticut Sun 69-50 on June 2 and 78-61 to the New York Liberty on June 6.

“I thought our effort was really piss poor,” Dream head coach Tanisha Wright said after the Liberty loss. “We weren’t a professional team today. We didn’t come to do our job today, and that was from the very start.”

Dream starters combined for 40 points against New York, with starting point guard Haley Jones finishing with 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 24 minutes. Star shooting guard Rhyne Howard only finished with 11 points in 32 minutes.

“The first group started [not doing their jobs], and it trickled down,” Wright said. “When you do that, you have losses like this.”

Atlanta appeared to be a team primed to jump from the WNBA’s middle pack to one of the four top contenders this season with the additions of Jordin Canada, Tina Charles and Aerial Powers. As point guard Canada continues to nurse her right-hand injury, the current group looks like it has a similar issue from last year: When Howard and Allisha Gray are struggling to score, who can put the ball in the bucket for Atlanta?

“I think we need to find our identity,” Powers said. “Who do we want to be as a team? The coaching staff is putting us in the right positions, and we just have to have — like she said — the fortitude to hustle hard and play hard. And I think we will.”

The Dream now hit the road to face Angel Reese, Chennedy Carter and the Chicago Sky on June 8 at 5 p.m. EDT.