The Atlanta Dream have taken 52 more free throws than the Golden State Valkyries through the first five games of the WNBA Finals. The count 130-78 in the Dream's favor.
The Dream's 14 free-throw attempts in the Valkyries' 64-55 win at Chase Center in Game 5 on Monday night are the fewest trips to the line Atlanta has had in any game all series. Given the game's physicality, Dream star Angel Reese called out the officiating and her head coach, Karl Smesko, backed her up.
"I'm still trying to figure out how to play through the physicality," Reese said. "A lot of us are getting fouled and they're not calling it. Or we're talking to the ref after and they're saying, ‘Oh, we'll get you next time.' So it is a little frustrating, especially in the moment of it.
"I mean, I'm kind of used to it because this is happening throughout the season. So I have to just continue to play through it. But honestly, for my teammates, when they're getting slapped to the ground or goggles knocked off, it is frustrating trying to keep them in and keep them confident. We'll figure it out, we'll just have to continue to push through the physicality and hopefully it goes our way the next game."
Reese was likely referencing a non-call when the Valkyries' Kiah Stokes and Veronica Burton jumped to defend a driving Allisha Gray in the paint. Burton's arm came down on Gray's head and her goggles flew off her face as she came crashing down. There was no whistle.
Reese said she noticed a shift in officiating when the Dream took a 2-1 series lead last week and noted a time in Game 4 that Golden State's Gabby Williams tugged on Reese's arm and the referees didn't blow the whistle.
"I want to have Angel's back here. The contact they allow on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous, just ridiculous," Smesko said. "We should have gone to the foul line six to eight more times just on that. Then to miss double-dribbles and travels. Multiple that always led to points. You can't be at this level and make that many mistakes.
"There's things that are on us - we're missing shots we should make - but at the same time, it needs to be a whole lot better than it was. It's time that if you push somebody with two hands as they drive, it's got to be a foul and I'm tired of some of the excuses I'm hearing."
A best-of-seven series is bound to get increasingly physical as the stakes get higher and teams grow more familiar, and Game 5 fit the bill with collisions, elbows to the face and hard contact on both ends.
Reese was whistled for four fouls Monday. She was visibly frustrated when she ran through guard Tiffany Hayes, who was trying to stop her in transition, and was called for an offensive foul. Reese was called for an offensive foul again when she received the ball in double coverage, lowered her shoulder and pushed through Cecilia Zandalasini in the paint, sending her to the ground.
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There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Dream's Angel Reese and her coach blast officiating in WNBA Finals: ‘Just ridiculous'.