Dream vs. Liberty: Key Insights for Sunday's Playoff Game

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00:00We got the Dream taking on the Liberty 1 p.m. on Sunday. Obviously, a lot of people think

00:07that this is a lockdown matchup for the Liberty. The Dream need their star players to just

00:11completely command and control the game. But what do you see in this one?

00:14Well, this is a matchup that, you know, if you're the Liberty, you don't want to play

00:19with your food and you want to try and blow them out of the water early. So to me, when

00:23you start looking about where to go, you want to be nervous about the overall lot, right?

00:29Because you worry about, could this game be a back-door cover with a heavy line? So to

00:36me, if you're looking at anything, throw out the last game, which was last night, the 78-67

00:41win by the Dream. I'm looking at the Liberty team total over in the first half to be 43

00:47and a half on Fandle. They've scored 38, 62, 41 points. This is the best team offensively

00:53in the WNBA, not a strong team defensively in the Atlanta Dream. And if you're Sandy

00:58Bordello, Casey, you want to get off to a fast start. That's the key. You don't want

01:04them to believe. So I believe the first half Liberty team total over 43 and a half points

01:10is the way to go. They jump them early.

01:13I love that. And just to stick with that for just a second, coach, I'm hearing a lot of

01:16rumblings that star players will either not be participating or be removed from the lineup

01:21quite early. So does that kind of continue to stack to the fast start, hot start, and

01:25then move along when it comes to the rest of the game?

01:28Yeah, I think so. And I think that's why you get nervous about taking a full game, right?

01:34You know, because if you're Sandy Bordello and you're up by 20, you know, points early

01:39in the fourth quarter, why are you playing Sabrina Neske? Why are you playing Brianna

01:42Stewart? You know, people like Benajalini Hamilton, Courtney Bannister have battled

01:47injuries all year. So why would you risk it for a whole game? The other thing to look

01:52at, Casey, is if the Liberty get off to a slow start, let's say they're tied after the

01:56first quarter, maybe jump on the Liberty at the end of the first quarter to win the second

02:01quarter. Maybe teams get off to a slow start, a little bit of nervous energy, jump on them

02:07in game, stay away from the full game at all, play Liberty after the end of the first quarter

02:12if they're struggling or take the first half or if it's something at halftime, maybe the

02:18coaches like to make big adjustments at the break. This will be a big series for an Atlanta

02:23team, but let's be honest, it's playing better. Another thing to look at, I know it's

02:27minus money big, but we got to talk about Tina Charles. The ages wonder what she has

02:33done. Minus 155 for a double-double. If they're going to be in the game at all, Tina

02:39Charles, double-double should be something you should be looking at.

02:42Absolutely noted. Now, what about this? Because I was seeing a lot of people maybe

02:46locking in on Howard for over 15.5 points. Is that something that would be appealing

02:51for this matchup?

02:53Yeah, I mean, Ryan Howard is to stir that offense, right? When Ryan Howard, Gray, and

02:58obviously Tina Charles, but you want to cut the head off the snake. The only thing that

03:02gets me nervous about Ryan Howard is, but Angelina Hamilton is arguably one of the best

03:063 and D players in the WNBA. If she's healthy, they're going to try, and that's what you

03:13want to do as a coach. You want to cut the head off at the snake, which means you're

03:16going to have to look at, that's what I think the Tina Charles double-double is the other

03:20angle to do, or if you want to go point-force rebounds. Because if I'm Sandy Bordello, I'm

03:24looking at knocking down Howard and limiting her opportunities to score and make other

03:30people try and beat her.

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