Inside ex-Cat Aari McDonald's offseason work to expand her game ahead of 3rd WNBA campaign

Aari McDonald seems even more comfortable these days.

Heading into her third season playing for the Atlanta Dream has a lot to do with it.

It’s also the consistency of having the same coach — Tanisha Wright — for the second consecutive season. After McDonald’s first season, which featured three coaches in four months, seeing the same face at the helm would put anyone at ease. Wright is a former player who understands what McDonald and her teammates are going through on a daily basis.

Another factor is McDonald’s offseason role as Arizona’s director of recruiting operations. Spending hours with her former coach, Adia Barnes, and seeing up close what it takes to run a program has changed the way McDonald looks at the game.

“Just being behind the scenes with the coaching staff, watching film — like countless hours of film — I knew coaches watch film, but I didn’t think they watched it that much,” McDonald said. “Just being able to see what we need to fix or correct and just schemes for the games or the people we’re facing. I think me just being more detail-oriented going into games, film, scouts, all that — even myself working out. You’ll see that (in) my reading (of the court), with skills and just being ready for the next plays. You’ll see that more this year for me.”

The Dream tip off their preseason against the Washington Mystics on Wednesday. Their other preseason warmup is Sunday when they host the Connecticut Sun. The regular season starts on the road against Dallas on May 20.

Arizona fans might want to circle Aug. 3 on their calendars. That’s when the Dream play the Mercury in Phoenix — their only matchup at Footprint Center this season. It will be an opportunity to see McDonald face off against former UA teammate Sam Thomas, assuming Thomas, who is on another training-camp contract this season, makes the Mercury roster again.

Training days

Only a few days into the Dream’s training camp, McDonald could see signs of what this season could look like. She’s taken to heart one of Barnes’ messages — getting 1% better each day.

McDonald spent her offseason in Tucson not only looking for the next generation of recruits and being mentored by Barnes, she also trained.

And boy, did she train.

Waking up at 5 a.m. for her first workout of the day, many times a class at F45. After doing some work and observing the Wildcats’ practice, McDonald would lift and start working on the court herself. The Atlanta Dream sent development coach Dale McNeil to Tucson to work on specific parts of her game. At the beginning of the season, McNeil came once a month, but by January, he was a regular. Each time he showed up, the practices intensified. For McDonald, two-a-days — or even three-a-days — became her routine.

When McNeil wasn’t in town, he left a plan for McDonald, who then worked with either UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, a grad assistant to rebound for her or on her own.

This season expect to see more from McDonald. She has worked on becoming more of a “true point guard.”

“I’ve always been a scoring point guard, but ... this is Year Three. I want to prove that I’m a great playmaker, a great passer, I can make the reads as necessary, depending on how the defense is playing,” McDonald said.

“Just improving on that 2-point range, me converting, me shooting more middies, more midrange jumpers, and just being consistent overall with my shooting.”

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She’s also aware of a stat she didn’t like last year — turnovers. She averaged 2.1 per game, with a total of 77. You could argue that with the ball in her hands more at the point and averaging 24 minutes per game, chances are you’ll turn the ball over more. But not for McDonald. She sees this as her “Achilles’ heel” and has worked on taking care of the ball.

Continuing to grow

McDonald made the WNBA and AP All-Rookie teams her first year, 2021. She led all rookies with 59 assists and 25 steals and ranked second with 189 total points, 32 3-pointers made and 104 3-pointers attempted. She also set a new Dream record 31 consecutive made free throws.

In her second season, there was a distinct jump across all aspects of her game. She picked seven steals in one game, something only three other Dream players have accomplished. She averaged 11.1 points per game, picked 53 steals, grabbed 81 rebounds and dished 93 assists.

Danielle Robinson, who joined the Dream in the offseason after a trade with the Indiana Fever, has watched McDonald evolve from afar over the last two seasons. She is quite impressed with her new teammate.

Robinson in an 11-year veteran, a three-time All-Star, a three-time All-Defensive team selection and ranks 13th all time in assists in the league. Her words carry a lot of weight.

“Aari, for the past two seasons, has been a really great scorer,” Robinson said. “Great defensively. I always remember watching her guarding the best players on each team, especially the best guards. You don’t take that lightly, especially as a young player. It’s an honor to guard those type of players.

“I’m seeing her continue to grow into that, be more of a vocal leader. … I guess they say that she’s quiet. I haven’t heard her be quiet. … I think that she’s doing a heck of a job leading in the way that she can, and a lot of it, I think, is how hard she plays. Aari plays so hard every single possession, and our teammates feed off of that. I think that we’ll be able to follow her example ... every single day because she’s never tired.”

Rim shots

Thomas played 20 minutes in the Mercury’s first preseason game Monday against the Seattle Storm. She scored eight points — including the dagger 3-pointer — had one block, one assist and one rebound.

Former Wildcat Jade Loville, who was selected by the Storm in the third round of the WNBA Draft, was waived Tuesday. She got into Monday’s game in the fourth quarter and scored four points in seven minutes. She added a steal and a rebound.

Soon-to-be freshman Breya Cunningham was invited to the U19 USA Team Trials next week. The team will play for the U19 Women’s World Cup in Madrid in July.

Senior Helena Pueyo is with the Spanish National team as it trains for FIBA’s EuroBasket this summer.

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