by by James Bowman, AtlantaDream.net
It’s hard to believe that 2014 is coming to an end. You might not believe that much happened in 2014 with the Atlanta Dream. The Dream didn’t even go to the WNBA Finals!
If you think that nothing happened this year, trust me – a lot happened.
* The Dream changed the location of its head offices, moving from their original home.
* For the first time it its history, the Dream split the duties of head coach and general manager.
* The Dream’s Shoni Schimmel exploded on the scene. She was the All-Star MVP and she had the best-selling jersey in the WNBA.
* Michael Cooper coached his first season as the Dream’s head coach – but had a health scare.
* Angel McCoughtry had another amazing year.
* The Dream played one of the classic games of WNBA history. It was a pity that it was the last game of their season.
So for those of you out there that want to recall all of highs – and all of the lows – of the 2014 Atlanta Dream WNBA season, this timeline of the 2014 season should serve as a strong reminder of everything that happened this year.
January 12: AtlantaInTownPaper.com reports that the Atlanta Dream will move its corporate headquarters from the Peachtree Center to Centennial Tower. The move takes place on Feb. 28. Not only does Centennial Tower house the offices of the Atlanta Hawks, but the new location allows Dream staff to walk from their offices to Philips Arena.
January 21: Angela Taylor is named the new general manager of the Atlanta Dream. She replaces Fred Williams in the role. Williams was both the head coach and GM of the Dream; this is the first time in Atlanta Dream history that the roles will be separated.
January 23: Fred Williams, one of 15 applicants for the job, is named the new head coach of the Tulsa Shock. Williams had been the previous head coach of the Atlanta Dream but was relieved of his duties on October 18th the previous year after a 17-17 season and a sweep by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2013 WNBA Finals.
February 6: The Atlanta Dream, along with the other 11 teams in the league, release their respective 2014 regular season schedules.
February 7: Sancho Lyttle was named the 2013 FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year.
March 4: Teresa Edwards was named an assistant coach to Michael Cooper. Edwards was a highly-acclaimed basketball player who won four gold medals for the United States in international play. She is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and joins Karleen Thompson as an assistant coach. (Thompson was named to the Dream coaching staff in December 2013.)
March 5: The Atlanta Dream was named the Team of the Year at the Atlanta Sports Awards. The teams considered included all professional, collegiate and high school sports teams in the Atlanta community.
March 12: The Dream is part of a three-way trade with Connecticut and Washington. Atlanta acquires G Matee Ajavon from Washington and Washington’s second round pick in the 2014 Draft in exchange for Atlanta’s third round pick in the 2014 draft. Connecticut acquires Dream point guard Alex Bentley.
March 26: Using the core exception, the Dream signs C Erika de Souza to a new contract.
April 1: The Los Angeles Sparks sign G Armintie Herrington. Herrington played for the Dream from 2009 to 2013.
April 3: The Dream signs PG Céline Dumerc, the captain of the French women’s team. Dumerc was the 2012 FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year and her signing would put her on the same team as Sancho Lyttle, the 2013 FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year. Atlanta will have to wait for Dumerc’s obligations in France to be over before the 31-year old can begin her rookie season in the WNBA.
April 14: The 2014 WNBA Draft takes place at Bristol, Connecticut. Atlanta picks at #8 in the first round and selects G Shoni Schimmel from Louisville as its first-round pick. In the second round, the Dream selects G Inga Orekhova from South Florida (the #18 pick) and F Cassie Harberts from USC (the #20 pick). The third round pick was awarded to Washington as part of the Ajavon trade on March 12th.
Schimmel becomes the highest-picked Native American player in WNBA history.
April 25: Shoni Schimmel officially signs her contract with the Dream.
April 27: The Atlanta Dream’s training camp opens. Among the invitees are C Nadia Gomes Colhado from Brazil (who would later make the regular season roster) and the Phoenix Mercury’s 2012 first-round pick G Samantha Prahalis.
There are 21 names on the roster. Many of the established players like G/F Angel McCoughtry, F Sancho Lyttle, and C Erika de Souza will arrive late to camp due to overseas commitments.
May 7: The Dream acquires F Swin Cash from the Chicago Sky in exchange for Dream guard Courtney Clements. Cash is a four-time WNBA All-Star.
May 13: The Dream reduces its roster size to 13 players as Samantha Prahalis, Cassie Harberts and Jhasmin Player are cut. One player still remains to be cut as the WNBA max roster size is 12.
May 14: Mechelle Voepel of ESPNW names the Dream as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. The Chicago Sky are picked to finish sixth.
May 15: Céline Dumerc is temporarily suspended by Atlanta, which allows Atlanta to reduce its roster to 12 players.
May 16: The Dream opens the 2014 regular season in Atlanta with a 79-75 victory at Philips Arena over the San Antonio Stars. Shoni Schimmel makes her WNBA debut, scoring seven points in the fourth quarter.
June 2: Céline Dumerc arrives in Atlanta. To make room for her on the roster, Inga Orekhova is waived.
June 3: Erika de Souza matches her career high in points, scoring 27 against the Los Angeles Sparks in a 93-85 win at Philips Arena. Shoni Schimmel had seven assists. Céline Dumerc played her first game in an Atlanta Dream uniform but only played six minutes. She had three turnovers and went scoreless.
June 7: In the biggest margin of victory in Atlanta Dream history, the Dream beat Chicago 97-59 at Philips Arena.
June 30: Michael Cooper is named as the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the WNBA All-Star Game. Cooper earns the honor not because he replaces last season’s WNBA Finals coach Fred Williams at the Dream’s helm, but qualifies due to the Dream having the best record in the East at 11-4.
July 7: With 25,601 total votes, Shoni Schimmel is voted an Eastern Conference starter in the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game. The only players in the WNBA getting more All-Star votes than Schimmel were Maya Moore (#1) and Elena Delle Donne (#2).
But she’s not alone for the Dream. Angel McCoughtry is also voted as an Eastern Conference starter. It is the third consecutive season where she is voted to start an All-Star Game. Later, Erika de Souza would be named to the Eastern Conference reserves.
July 9: F Swin Cash is traded to the New York Liberty in exchange for F DeLisha Milton-Jones. Milton-Jones is a 16-year veteran who played for Michael Cooper’s Los Angeles Sparks WNBA championship teams in 2001 and 2002.
July 19: In Phoenix, Arizona, the Eastern Conference wins a 125-124 overtime victory over the Western Conference in the 2014 WNBA All-Star game. Shoni Schimmel would score an All-Star Game record 29 points and be named the All-Star Game MVP.
July 21: With Atlanta 15-6 and having a five game lead in the Eastern Conference, it is revealed that Dream head coach Michael Cooper has early stage tongue cancer. Even though after surgery Cooper is expected to recover, he goes on medical leave. Assistant coach Karleen Thompson takes over as acting head coach.
July 25: Cooper undergoes surgery at Emory. The Dream finds itself in the middle of a four-game losing streak coinciding with Cooper’s illness.
August 3: Cooper returns to coaching for the very first time after his successful surgery in a home game against the New York Liberty. Due to his recovery, his duties are limited and the Dream begins a five-game losing streak, starting with an 83-76 loss against New York. Between July 16th and August 10th, the Dream would lose nine of eleven games.
August 13: Shoni Schimmel scores a season-high 24 points as the Dream beats Phoenix 96-82 at Philips Arena. The win clinches Atlanta’s very first Eastern Conference regular season championship.
August 22: With the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Dream takes on the Chicago Sky at Philips Arena. Angel McCoughtry tries to keep the Dream alive, but her 3-pointer attempt in the final seconds falls and the Sky steal an 80-77 win on the road.
August 24: Needing a victory on the road to stave off elimination, McCoughtry makes up for an 8-for-22 Game One performance with a WNBA playoff high 39 points in Game Two to give the Dream a 92-83 victory and send the series back to Atlanta.
August 26: In a game that became a WNBA classic, the Dream lead Chicago by 17 points with just over eight minutes left. But Elena Delle Donne hasn’t stopped playing. She puts the Sky on her back in the fourth quarter and hits the game winning shot with 8.2 seconds left to give the Chicago Sky an 81-80 victory. The Dream is eliminated from the post-season.
Delle Donne finished with 34 points. Of those 34 points, 17 are scored in the final quarter. She scored 11 of Chicago’s last 16 points. The Sky will go on to the WNBA Finals but will be swept by the dominant Phoenix Mercury.
September 11: Angel McCoughtry is named to the All-WNBA Second Team. She also is named a member of the All-Defensive First Team and finishes third in the MVP voting.
September 24: Angel McCoughtry is named to the United States national team roster for the 2014 FIBA World Championships.
October 5: The United States team wins the 2014 FIBA World Championship, defeating Spain 77-64 in the finals. McCoughtry finishes with an average of 6.5 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game. Playing on the Spanish team, Sancho Lyttle is named to the All-Tournament team. She leads all players with 18.2 points per game and finishes second overall in rebounds with 11.5 rebounds per game.
December 11: The Atlanta Dream, along with all 11 other WNBA teams, announces the 2015 regular season schedule.
December 16: Atlanta Dream coach Michael Cooper buys a $1.1 million, 4,300 square foot home in the View Park section of Los Angeles.
– See more at: http://www.wnba.com/dream/news/14yearinreview.html#sthash.NTIXSdNC.dpuf
