McCoughtry Powers Atlanta's WNBA Finals Dream Into Reality
by Milton Kent
Two and a half weeks ago, the Atlanta Dream was reeling, having dropped six of their final seven games to close the WNBA regular season, looking to all like a prime candidate to get bounced from the first round of the playoffs.
A lineup adjustment here, a few days off there and the Dream suddenly find themselves in the Finals, with a 105-93 win over the New York Liberty in Atlanta Tuesday to complete a sweep of the best-of-three Eastern Conference championship series.
Second year forward Angel McCoughtry had a career high and WNBA playoff record 42 points in the Dream's win, as Atlanta broke a 73-all tie after three quarters with a 32-point fourth period.
"You can't do it without your teammates," said McCoughtry, the 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year. "Everybody played their butts off. Now, we've gotta get this ring, this championship ring. It's not over."
McCoughtry, whose 42 points topped the 41 scored by Indiana Fever forward Tamika Whitmore in a 2006 playoff game, outdueled New York guard Cappie Pondexter, who posted a playoff career high 36 points and nine assists to lead the Liberty.
by Bethlehem Shoals and Tom ZillerIn The Works today: quiet assaults Jerry Colangelo's grand Team USA plan; Angel McCoughtry, the woman who flies; and microfracture claims another victim.
But first, does Luis Scola or any international champion really matter?
The Great Examination: Luis Scola went into, as Rockets GM Daryl Morey described it, "video game god mode" against Brazil on Tuesday, dropping 37 points, including 10 in the final three minutes. Scola's performance is a perfect battle line for those who love and hate international play.
On the one hand, it was an epic performance at a pretty high level of competition -- Scola is a legit starter in the NBA, and he looked as good as ever against Brazil, a team with two NBA big men as well. And beyond that, it was really, really exciting. On the other hand, does anyone ever see Scola doing this in a big NBA game? (For the record, Scola once dropped 44 on the Nets. But this was last March, when the Nets hardly counted as an NBA game and when the Rockets were effectively out of the playoff chase.)
Critics of international basketball as entertainment use that line of reasoning -- it's not NBA-level competition -- often, and it's hard to argue it. It creates a weird double-standard when it comes to Team USA, though, especially when the Americans use a so-called B-team. If Eric Gordon and Kevin Love can play like champs for a virtual All-Star team, why wouldn't their NBA coaches make them team focal points? 
You'll have to forgive the Atlanta Dream if they have to be reminded that they are, indeed, still a part of the WNBA playoffs.
The Dream, the only lower seed to knock off a higher seeded team in the opening round of the playoffs, will have had nine days off since sweeping the Washington Mystics out of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Their reward for all that time off is a first-ever berth in the Eastern finals against the New York Liberty Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Dream, who faltered to end the regular season, held commanding leads over the top seeded Mystics in both games of their series, including a 24-0 run in Game 2.
Now, Atlanta, in its deepest postseason foray in their three seasons of existence must reassemble the league's top rebounding unit and the second most potent offense to continue their run.
"We all have our strengths that make this team great," said Atlanta guard Angel McCoughtry (pictured on left of photo) to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's like superheroes. Some can fly; some are strong. We all have our different gifts that bring us together and make us great."
There's winning an award in dominating fashion ... and then there's the way Tina Charles won Rookie of the Year honors.
Charles, a 6-foot-4 center with the Connecticut Sun, was unanimously chosen the league's top rookie in voting conducted by a 39-member media panel, the WNBA announced Tuesday.
Charles, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in University of Connecticut history, was the first overall pick in April's draft, and lived up to advance billing, posting a double-double in her first pro game. She averaged 15.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Charles' rebounding average led the WNBA and her 1.68 blocks per game were second.
In addition, Charles set WNBA single season records for rebounds and double-doubles.