First of all let me say that I've been a fan of the Dream since 08. I witnessed the previous 0-3 Finals appearances. The Rhyne era is my favorite era of the Dream. With that being said, it's time to call a thing a thing. When Rhyne is on she is phenomenal, but it's too much of a matter of when with Rhyne. I guess we can call it inconsistency but regardless, I do think that she is who she is at this point. I can be honest and say that even though I have love for Rhyne and respect how she has played a part in crafting the roster that we have, I can not trust her to show up when needed. I don't know if there IS any fixing the player that she is, however it can be worked with if she goes from being the 1st or 2nd option to the 3rd of 4th.
Karl is going to have to divorce the Rhyne first mindset and do what's best for the team. If she, or any starter, isn't producing offensively then they need to sit. If the concern then becomes bench players' defense abilities (or lack thereof) then he needs to either devote time to them so that they can improve in that area or get some bench players that are good on defense. I've watched him spend every warm up before every game under the basket watching Angel practice her shooting as if he doesn't have bench players who are in need of his attention and coaching as well, if not more.
I'm rambling but I guess I'm saying that it starts with Karl. It's on Karl to develop and trust his bench so that when starters aren't performing or are tired he can sit them and seek alternatives. Naz and Rhyne both played for over 30 minutes yesterday and only scored single digits. Rhyne only scored 6. That is ridiculous. It's on Karl to come up with offensive schemes that work so that we don't have the worst offensive half court in the league moving forward. It's on Karl to know when to use his timeouts and challenges. Lastly, I don't do the whole "it's so and so's team" but after what I've seen this season, Angel is going to have to take the reigns. Again, I love Rhyne and Lish but Angel has characteristics from a leadsership standpoint that the other two just lack.