Dream Head Coach Finds Surprising Advantage in Angel Reese Foul Trouble
A new officiating focus to combat the physicality in the WNBA has led to an uptick in fouls, and players regularly have to navigate foul trouble. Angel Reese has been one of those players—although she also averaged a lot of fouls before this season, so we can’t blame the crack down on physicality too much. She averages 3.6 fouls per game and has already been called for a total of 51 fouls this season, tying Caitlin Clark for the fifth-most in the league.
Reese also got in foul trouble early in the Atlanta Dream’s second meeting with the Indiana Fever. She picked up four fouls in just the first half. That’s not usually what you want to see from one of your stars, especially with Brionna Jones still out and Reese acting as the primary scorer in the frontcourt, but Dream head coach Karl Smesko isn’t overly worried about her tendency to rack up fouls. In fact, he thinks playing through foul trouble is preparing her for the playoffs.
“I think it’s a good thing throughout the course of a season for players to play under foul pressure,” Smesko said in the postgame media availability, per the Dream’s YouTube channel. “Can you still play hard? Can you play smart and avoid fouls? And that’s something that you really need to be able to do in the playoffs. So, when you get those opportunities, I think it really helps. And you notice that Angel was really smart. She was vertical. She was able to play the whole second half without getting another foul.”
Angel Reese should finally make her WNBA playoff debut this season
Reese was an All-Star in both of her first seasons in the WNBA, but never went to the playoffs with the Chicago Sky—a shortcoming that very much contributed to her frustrations with the organization. Coming to Atlanta has been quite the change of pace. Reese may not be the best and most productive player on the team anymore, but she still averages a double-double and finally gets to play for a winning team.
The Dream’s 10-4 record has them sitting in fourth place in the standings—half a game behind the New York Liberty and half a game ahead of the Golden State Valkyries—with a trip to the playoffs seemingly inevitable.
Expectations for Reese’s first postseason appearance are high. The Dream made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, but never got out of the first round. Even after a franchise-record 30-win season last year, they were upset by the shorthanded Fever. Judging by comments from Dream players, Smesko, and GM Dan Padover, many of them viewed a chance to trade for Reese as an opportunity to help get the team over the hump.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.