“His offense is terrible. Too many threes.”
“He doesn’t get mad enough at the officials.”
“He doesn’t use his bench enough.”
Even as the Atlanta Dream pushed through some midseason malaises to earn the fourth seed in the WNBA, even as they marched their way to a 5-0 record in the postseason en route to a WNBA Finals berth, the chatter hasn’t stopped around head coach Karl Smesko. No matter what he does, it never seems to quiet the noise.
Maybe it’s time to consider that the guy might know what he’s doing. If you’ve been paying close attention, this Finals run has only demonstrated the evidence of that, not changed the narrative.
Set aside the two straight 30-14 regular-season finishes and back-to-back playoff appearances for the Dream, though those numbers present a pretty strong case.
The poise with which this team has played in the postseason this year, in contrast to last year’s first-round collapse, has been exceptional in this undefeated start to the playoffs. No matter how many times they’ve had to absorb punches from other teams, they’ve stuck to their style and trust their system. They’ve executed at a high level, taking care of the basketball while taking it away with regularity. And whenever they’ve needed to make an adjustment or come up with a critical play for a bucket, they’ve done it every single time. Oh yeah, and they did it all while missing their most consistent scorer, Allisha Gray, for basically the entire series.
At some point, you have to credit the coaching.
What makes Smesko the perfect coach for this team
But if you’ve been watching the Dream this season—really watching—you’ve seen the little things Smesko has done to make this squad the contender it is.
For one thing, look at the way he’s poured into Angel Reese, who has taken a major leap offensively and has slowly become a more competent outside shooter. Smesko made that a priority for her to improve on and has demanded she shoot three-pointers in games, no matter what anyone said. Believe it or not, she just finished shooting 57% on her long-range attempts over the course of this series and has gone 5-of-13 (38%) in the playoffs overall.
He stuck by players like Naz Hillmon and Jordin Canada—players whom fans have, at various times, wanted traded or removed from the starting lineup. Without Hillmon’s rugged, unselfish defense and Canada’s all-around brilliance, the Dream don’t win these last three games.
Though he tends to lean on experience, he has given rookies like Isobel Borlase and Madina Okot enough run to prime them for postseason production. Just look at what Borlase has done in the past two games, scoring in double figures with huge buckets. Okot will likely come into play against the size of Golden State, even if only for a brief time.
And perhaps most notably of all, Smesko has helped the Dream become one of the deadliest clutch teams in the league. According to Hoops Junkie, the Dream boasted the best offensive rating and third-best defensive rating in the last five minutes of games this season, which doesn’t surprise you if you’ve been riding with them this season.
Now, going up against the Golden State Valkyries and 2025 Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase won’t be easy for Smesko and Co. Nakase’s relentless defensive style and willingness to throw lots of bodies at opposing teams have kept opponents off-balance all year. Atlanta lost all three of their regular-season matchups against the Valkyries as well.
But if there’s one thing you should know about the Dream by now, it’s that you should never, ever count them out. Because this team, led by Smesko, is elite at staying the course and coming out on top when it’s all said and done.
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