The Dallas Wings dropped a close game last night to the Minnesota Lynx, opening their season 0-3.
The Wings had a lot of buzz around their team after securing the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and selecting Paige Bueckers, as well as hiring a new coach.
What about this slow start? Is it to be expected? Or could we be talking about something else here at the start of this season?
Rosalina Lee is a journalist and WNBA analyst who creates content for her YouTube channel and contributes to Women’s Fastbreak for Sports Illustrated. She joined the Standard to talk about the Wings’ slow start. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Now you recently wrote that the Dallas Wings should, and I quote here, “pass Paige Bueckers the keys to unlock WNBA success.” Tell us what you were trying to say with it.
Rosalina Lee: Well, this is the thing: Arike, kind of, she had those keys. She’s an amazing player – like one of the best in the WNBA.
Arike Ogunbowale, right?
Yeah, Arike Ogunbowale, yeah. She is one of the best.
But I think that, and this is kind of crazy to say, but you know, Paige Bueckers, she’s really special. And she has a court vision that I think is not common among players in the WNBA.
And, you know, Arike Ogunbowale is a lights-out shooter. She was definitely responsible for a lot of the scoring load of her team last season with a lot of injuries on the team. And I think that she has gotten very used to carrying that load.
But I think she is now joined by Bueckers who has an elite style of viewing the court. And she is always looking out for the team, the teammates, and how she can make them better in addition to being a pretty efficient scorer herself.
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So are you saying that this team needs to work more like a team and less like a “star here, a star there” – that kind of thing?
Yeah. And again, I think that Arike, she kind of does some ISO-ing, but the thing is, is I think she was tasked with that last season because there wasn’t a lot of people around her that were able to score like her, for that reason.
And that is why she kind of has a lot like what people say is like “hero-balling” and whatnot.
Now, despite the Wings starting this season with three losses, you write that doesn’t tell the whole story – that there have been some glimpses of what the Wings can do, team chemistry improving. Tell us more about that.
Well, I think that there are a lot of fresh faces to this team and, you know, what we’re seeing right now is not going to be what the team’s going to look like in the future.
I don’t necessarily predict that they’re going to win a lot of games, but I do think that… You know, they have DiJonai Carrington now. Ty Harris has gone back to the Wings. They have NaLyssa Smith. They have Myisha Hines-Allen, who last season was on the Lynx.
So what we’re seeing right now is everybody getting to know each other and figuring out the best way… Oh, they have a new coach too, you know?
Sure, Chris Koclanes.
Yeah, Chris Koclanes is like a big facelift to the team.
But that’s why everyone was so excited about this. You have a new coach, you have several star players now. And I think that was the expectation.
And to hear you say you don’t really expect them to win a whole lot of games… So you’re saying you think this is going to be a team-building season?
I think I do. I mean, you know, we have to see what the improvements are.
Like, I think that just from the first game, to the game with Seattle, to the game that they played last night against the Lynx, their defense got a lot better. And I think we’re going to see a lot of improvements.
I don’t necessarily think they’re going to be a terrible team. I think that assessing the play, as far as we’ve seen it now, they might not win a lot of games.
How is Koclanes settling into this team and what are you going to be watching for in a future game?
I’m going to be watching for his, you know, adjustment into the professional league. You know, he was, an assistant coach over at USC and there are things that you do need to adjust to. It’s like what you don’t know, you don’t know.
You’re going into this season, the excitement’s been building around the WNBA. Where’s the greatest excitement and where do you see this season headed in a more broad sense for the entire league?
I just see a lot of growth happening. I mean, we just heard that the New York Liberty has been, I don’t know exactly what it is, but they have the highest valuation – I think of $450 million or something. This is something that just came out.
So this just is like… It’s a statement that just shows how much the league is growing and people are paying attention and it’s something that, you know, is exciting.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention the inclusion of Caitlin Clark and what she’s brought to the league and like how that is just making so many people see all the other amazing talent in the WNBA.
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