Dearica Hamby pinpoints where Sparks need to be better after dropping to 4-6

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks’ current losing skid hit three games following their 104-96 loss to the Dallas Wings on Friday. But with another game coming up on Sunday against the surprising Portland Fire, the Sparks have no time to dwell on the loss, which is exactly what Dearica Hamby said.

“We’re going to keep building,” Hamby said during her postgame press conference. “We have another game in two days and the next four or five games are definitely winnable. So carry over, process this game and turn the page real quick.”

What was especially disappointing for the Sparks was the fact that they played well enough to win. Much of the second half was a back and forth game. The Sparks had a great offensive night shooting 54 percent from the field and around 35 percent from 3-point range before a couple of last minute heaves skewed their percentage a bit.

The Sparks were doomed by failing to execute fundamentals. They gave up two corner 3-point shots to Wings forward Maddy Siegrist after helping twice off the strong side. They gave up two offensive rebounds with under two minutes to go, with the Wings scoring both times. Things within the Sparks’ control.

“Just mental toughness,” Hamby said. “Rebounds, helping strong side when we shouldn’t be, just little things that we could have had a little bit more control over that we have to have to be more disciplined to finish the game.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Ariel Atkins. Both Hamby and Atkins are among the team’s veteran leaders this season, a season that has not started the way they would have liked. The loss dropped the Sparks to 4-6, and sixth place in the Western Conference.

“It’s a team thing,” Atkins said. “Making sure that we have low man, making sure we’re not overhead and just paying attention to the details of the game and sticking to the scout.”

Hamby and Atkins did their best to try and help the Sparks snap their losing streak. Atkins finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists while Hamby added 15 points and five rebounds. Combined, the duo shot 60 percent from the field.

For Hamby in particular, she is still adjusting and feeling her way on the court amid adding new teammates, including another strong post threat in Nneka Ogwumike. While it’s still a work in progress, Hamby felt the offense wasn’t really an issue against the Wings.

“I think we’re all just kind of trying to figure it out, adding new pieces. I definitely felt more natural the first half, back to just having more of an open floor,” Hamby said. “But we’ll continue to build off that, trust coach to figure it out … We had a really good offensive night considering so I don’t think that was necessarily our problem.”

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