{"id":186724,"date":"2025-08-30T07:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T07:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/186724\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T07:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T07:27:10","slug":"dreams-karl-smesko-addresses-rhyne-howards-fan-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/186724\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream\u2019s Karl Smesko addresses Rhyne Howard\u2019s fan comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Dream\u2019s Karl Smesko addresses Rhyne Howard\u2019s fan comments<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta Dream fans were called out by Rhyne Howard<\/a> after their loss against the Las Vegas Aces, and it was because of what they were doing in the fourth quarter. With the Aces leading late in the quarter, A\u2019ja Wilson was at the free-throw line, and the crowd started chanting MVP chants toward her.<\/p>\n

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That didn\u2019t sit right with Howard, and she mentioned it<\/a> after the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a challenge. We rely on our fans, and when they pick and choose who they want to cheer for and come in and make it feel like an away game for us and a home game for the other team, it\u2019s easy to go on a run like that,\u201d Howard said. \u201cEspecially with the playoffs coming up. You want to see Gamecocks, we have Gamecocks on our roster. The last game, we had MVP chants for one of our players. Don\u2019t get here and switch up because of one player.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we do make mistakes. But it\u2019s easy to lose momentum when you have other people cheering against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Before their game against the Dallas Wings, head coach Karl Smesko was asked if the team had any discussion about Howard\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had any talks any about it. I support Rhyne,\u201d Smesko said. \u201cWe\u2019re in agreement that we want to have the strongest home court advantage we could possibly have here. We have great fans, we really appreciate it, and I think home court advantage will make a difference in the playoffs. For us to get homecourt advantage, we still have some work to do, so we can\u2019t let any opportunity go by.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems like everybody on the team was on the same page, and with the Dream officially clinching a playoff spot, if they are able to get homecourt, the fans will be critical.<\/p>\n

Rhyne Howard makes WNBA history against Wings<\/b><\/p>\n

Howard came out in the next game and backed up her comments with a big game, finishing with 24 points, six made 3-pointers, and six blocks. With that stat line, she became the first player in WNBA history<\/a> to record six-plus blocks and six-plus 3-pointers made.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know if I was extra locked in, but I was due for a good game,\u201d Howard said after the game. \u201cMy teammates found me for open shots, and I was able to knock them down. As far as the blocks, that\u2019s just making the right plays on defense and going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever you do something that\u2019s the first time in WNBA history, that\u2019s pretty special,\u201d Smesko said. \u201cSo she had just an outstanding game, and it was great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the type of games that Howard is capable of, and when she plays like that, the Dream are always going to have a chance to win a game. Coming down the stretch of the season, every game they play will be important for them, especially if they want home-court advantage in the first round and beyond.<\/p>\n

Related: Karl Smesko\u2019s \u2018bigger\u2019 goal for Dream after playoff clinching win<\/a><\/p>\n

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Related: Dream\u2019s Rhyne Howard makes WNBA history in win vs. Wings<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Dream\u2019s Karl Smesko addresses Rhyne Howard\u2019s fan comments appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Atlanta Dream fans…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":186725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2341,2470,24112,51598,4144,1521,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-186724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-aja-wilson","9":"tag-dallas-wings","10":"tag-gamecocks","11":"tag-karl-smesko","12":"tag-las-vegas-aces","13":"tag-rhyne-howard","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115116536218803964","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}