The Atlanta Dream have a 15-0 record across the regular season and playoffs when Angel Reese hits at least one three-pointer. While everyone is used to Reese dominating the paint, Reese’s shooting, a much less nuanced yet heavily criticized aspect of her game, has been the X-factor for the Dream in the Finals. WNBA analyst Ryan Ruocco insists that Reese is not given enough credit for stepping up into a role that was clearly uncharted territory for her.

“I want to say one thing about Angel’s threes: when you’re given all that kind of space, and people are daring you to shoot it, sometimes those can be the most difficult shots to hit. Like, it shows how mentally strong Angel is, right?” said Ryan Ruocco on the ‘girlstripppod’ podcast.

“Here’s a player who’s never been a three-point shooter, who really is just starting to try and add this to her game, and with the biggest stakes, with players playing eight feet off of her, daring her to shoot them, instead of getting in her head about it, she’s like, alright, watch me knock it down. That takes a really mentally strong player, and that’s just another example, I think, of how strong mentally Angel is.”

The evolution of Reese’s offensive game—a foundation laid during her tenure in Chicago—reached new heights under the direction of Dream head coach Karl Smesko and his staff. By completely overhauling her shooting mechanics, Smesko and the Dream have helped Reese develop into a decent scoring threat as the 2026 season unfolded, effectively silencing one of the most persistent criticisms of her WNBA career.

And the numbers show the change. During the 2025 season, Angel Reese’s shooting struggles were glaring. She managed a 45.8 percent field-goal mark, converting just 153 of her 334 attempts, while connecting on just 4-of-22 from three-point range, per WNBA Advanced Stats. A closer look at her shot chart underscored the severity of the issue: Reese failed to hit a single shot from the 10- to 14-foot range and made just two of her 18 attempts from 20 to 24 feet.

Then, something changed this season. Whether it was the embarrassment Reese faced when Karl Smesko stopped the training until she hit consecutive threes, or the work with renowned basketball trainer Iren Rainey on her shot, Reese’s shooting metrics have seen a vast improvement this season.

This season, Reese’s offensive volume and versatility took a tangible step forward. She posted a 45.1 percent field goal mark, converting 250 of her 554 attempts. Her mid-range and perimeter games also saw notable growth. While not yet at an elite WNBA level, she improved to 10-of-52 from the 20-24 foot range. Closer to the basket, she shot 26 percent from 5-9 feet, going 13-for-50. Beyond the arc, her 3-point percentage ticked up to 19.3 percent from last year’s 18.2 percent, even as her volume more than doubled from 22 to 57 attempts.

And it’s not just Ruocco that Reese has left impressed with her game’s evolution.

“The ‘A’ in Atlanta right now stands for Angel Reese, and through three games, she’s my Finals MVP. No question about it. What she’s been able to do has been truly impressive…,” said former WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike.

“She’s averaging over 21 and 13 so far in the WNBA Finals…people might be sleeping on the fact that she completely reconstructed her shot thanks to Karl Smesko in the middle of the season, and now, when it matters most, she knocked down two of them things on top of getting steals, going coast-to-coast….This is a 24-year-old young woman who might be on the precipice of winning; she already won Defensive Player of the Year, she could win a championship.”

“She has been the missing link for a team that has had talent. She now sets them over the edge,” Ogwumike added.

It’s hard to disagree with Ogwumike. In the two games that Atlanta has won in this series, Reese has been phenomenal. Not just inside the paint or dominating the glass as usual, but also offensively. She completely took over Game 2, dropping 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbing 16 rebounds to secure a 79-65 win. She didn’t miss a beat in Game 3 either, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

With Allisha Gray struggling in Game 4 due to her finger injury, and Reese restricted to just eight points, it was not surprising to see the Dream lose a close game.

With the series in the balance, Reese’s offensive role may be even more necessary for Atlanta, and Reese will surely look to put the rustiness of Game 4 behind her Monday, as a tough test awaits them at “Balhalla.”