Different game, but Dallas finally seems to have a coach that holds players (one in particular) accountable. Still too much hero ball (imo) on the part of some of this board's least favorite players, even when successful, but the team seems to be heading in the right direction. (And a terrific line for S. Sabally tonight with a lot of nice comments from the announcers as well: 12 pts., 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and +21 for the game.)
Sabally actually started at center in this game (no minutes for Collier, barely any for Alarie), but was joined by Izzy Harrison for the majority of the game to help battle Chicago's height. And Thornton always will play a bruising style of ball. I think Sabally's ability to take bigs off the dribble while facing the basket is one of her key attributes. Too much "burst!" She had a fine all-round game.
BTW, the Wings shot 11-20 from three (55%): Allisha Gray was 2-3, Thornton 2-3 and Marina Mabrey 5-6. All three were also in double figure "+" figures. Mabrey led the Wings with 28 last night. With Ogunbowale, Gray, Sabally and Mabrey, there are numerous options.
As per Vickie Johnson's demand for accountability, it's not just Arike (your veiled reference isn't that hard to figure out
). She took Gray out of the lineup after her return from the 3x3 because she felt Allisha was still going one one one too much - residual effect of 3x3 play. Message received: Gray's back in and was great last night on very efficient scoring.
My only concern with Johnson is the constant line-up shuffling and "going by the gut" on minutes. While I admire her wanting her players to play hard 5-8 minutes shifts, players minutes can very wildly from game to game. Witness MoJeff playing all of 2+ minutes...after starting. If the players are on board, cool, but most like some sort of regular deployment of roles/minutes.
Still, she's got 'em at .500 and they're fun to watch.
