The Dream are undefeated when Angel Reese makes a 3-pointer: Inside how she rebuilt her shot 'from scratch'

Opponents once dared Reese to shoot, but her ‘remarkable’ improvement has helped push Atlanta to the verge of a WNBA title

Opponents once dared Reese to shoot, but her Angel Reese stood on the familiar Wintrust Arena court in late April, firing jumper after jumper before the Atlanta Dream's first preseason game, which doubled as her debut with the team and her return to Chicago following a stunning offseason trade from the Sky. Under the basket, watching intently with his arms folded, was Dream coach Karl Smesko. His presence was conspicuous. WNBA head coaches typically delegate on-court pre-game work to assistants and player development staff, but Smesko wanted to keep a keen eye on Reese's jump shot. "She has the green light to take open 3s right now," Smesko said later that night.

"We've been together a week working on it. This is gonna be a process that is gonna take a little time. But I will say that I've been very impressed with the progress that she's made already in practice. Now, the next step is solidifying that, and then the step after that is where you really start to feel comfortable doing it in games. "Whenever you're trying something new, there's a time period it takes to really feel comfortable in it to where you'll use that during the game rather than your old habits. That's gonna take some time, so hopefully people will be patient with that." karl