‘She’s Had To Change A Lot Of Things’: Jose Fernandez Says Arike Ogunbowale Isn’t Getting Her Credit

ARLINGTON, Texas — Arike Ogunbowale shot 7-of-9 in 22 minutes on Sunday, and Wings coach Jose Fernandez used the postgame podium to praise her season that went well past the box score.

Ogunbowale finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists against 1 turnover in the Dallas Wings‘ 83-63 win over the Connecticut Sun at College Park Center. Her 77.8% from the field was a career best. She went 1-of-3 from 3-point range, didn’t attempt a free throw, and wasn’t called for a foul across 22 minutes, 42 seconds. She finished at plus-14.

What Jose Fernandez Said

Over her past eight games, Ogunbowale has used 23 possessions that reached the final 4 seconds of the shot clock, according to tracking data. She’s shot 50.0% on them and scored 27 points. Across her first 22 games, she had 47 such possessions and shot 26.8%.

“She’s changed, and her growth from teams that she’s been on before,” Fernandez said. “She was seven for nine. That’s pretty good efficiency. And then a couple times she gets thrown a grenade late in the clock, and then she’s got to go between her legs, behind her back to separate. So that’s what a lot of people remember. She’s not selfish doing that. It’s the end of the clock.”

Ogunbowale has made 23 pull-up jumpers over the eight games on 36 attempts. She made 24 across the first 22 games, on 92 attempts. Shots at the rim account for 34.8% of her attempts in the recent stretch after accounting for 24.8% earlier in the season, and she’s converting 22-of-39 of them.

“So I don’t think a lot of people are giving Arike the credit that she deserves on the type of year that she’s having,” Fernandez said. “She’s had to change a lot of things, going away from being a high-volume guy to now sharing it, putting it down on the deck, getting downhill.”

Spot-ups made up 22.0% of her offensive possessions across the eight games and 21.9% over the first 22. Her turnover rate has held at 9.2% after sitting at 9.4%. Dallas has gone 5-3 in the eight games.

“So it’s about winning, and a lot of guys in that locker room have helped us win,” Fernandez said. “I think sometimes a lot of people get too concerned with, okay, who’s getting these amount of shots? Who’s getting these amount of shots? Who’s getting these touches? Why are these plays run for these guys? The end result is about winning.”

How Arike Ogunbowale’s Shot Profile Has Changed

The half-court numbers hold most of the difference. Ogunbowale generated 0.826 points per possession in half-court settings over her first 22 games. That figure sits at 1.123 across the eight since July 10. Her overall rate has moved from 0.875 points per possession to 1.184.

Pick-and-rolls with Ogunbowale handling now account for 23.4% of her offense, up from 16.9%. She’s producing 0.939 points per possession as the ball handler after producing 0.759. Plays where she comes off an off-ball screen have dropped from 12.2% of her possessions to 5.0%.

Transition has been her most productive play type in the recent stretch, at 1.444 points per possession across 27 possessions. She was at 1.083 on 60 transition possessions over the first 22 games. Transition accounts for a similar share of her offense in both windows, 19.1% and 18.8%.

The shot distances split the same way. Inside 17 feet, she shot 11-of-44 across the first 22 games. She’s 14-of-20 on those jumpers over the eight. From 17 feet to the 3-point line, she went 6-of-22 and is now 6-of-10. Her 3-point jumpers have gone from 41-of-124 to 15-of-35.

Three-pointers made up 65.3% of her jump shots over the first 22 games and account for 53.8% across the eight. Jumpers inside 17 feet have risen from 23.2% of her attempts to 30.8%. She’s taken 8 runners in the eight games and made 2.

Her guarded catch-and-shoot attempts have gone from 11-of-41 to 5-of-10. Her unguarded catch-and-shoot attempts have gone the other way, from 18-of-44 to 5-of-16.

Across her first 22 games, Ogunbowale used 319 offensive possessions and scored 279 points. She shot 34.1% from the field on 258 attempts, with an effective field goal percentage of 42.1%. In the eight games since, she has used 141 possessions and scored 167 points, with an effective field goal percentage of 59.4%.

Arike Ogunbowale’s Season By The Numbers

Through 30 games, Ogunbowale is averaging 15.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 29.7 minutes. She has scored 452 points on 147-of-374 shooting, or 39.3% from the field. Her true shooting sits at 53.2%.

From the free-throw line, she’s at 88.7%, having made 102-of-115. She’s 56-of-160 from 3-point range at 35.0%, on 5.3 attempts per game.

Ogunbowale has committed 43 turnovers across the 30 games, an average of 1.4. She has 92 assists and 29 steals. Dallas is plus-57 with her on the floor this season.

Her season also holds a stretch of single-digit scoring nights. She scored 2 points at the Atlanta Dream on May 22, 1 point against the Las Vegas Aces on May 28, and 2 points against the Phoenix Mercury on June 11. She went 1-of-11, 0-of-4, and 1-of-9 in those three games. Six days before the Phoenix game, she scored 30 at the Los Angeles Sparks on 10-of-21 shooting with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Eight-Game Stretch Behind It

Over her past eight games, Ogunbowale is averaging 21.1 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 31.8 minutes. She has scored 169 points in that span on 59-of-112 shooting, which comes to 52.7% from the field. She’s 15-of-35 from 3-point range across the eight at 42.9%, and 36-of-40 at the line for 90.0%. Her true shooting in the stretch is 65.2%.

The run started July 10 at the Toronto Tempo, when she scored 20 points and handed out 7 assists in 30 minutes. Two days later against the Chicago Sky, she added 17. She scored 20 more on July 19 against Los Angeles, closing the game after Paige Bueckers exited.

Her 29 points against the New York Liberty on July 20 are the high of the stretch. That game also took her 24 shots, the most she has attempted in any of the eight. Two days later at the Portland Fire she went 8-of-12 for 24 points with 6 assists.

Dallas came out of the All-Star break with a loss to Atlanta on July 29, and Ogunbowale had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals in that one. She scored 20 more on July 31 at the Washington Mystics. Sunday’s 23 minutes were her fewest of the eight, and her 15 points were her lowest total in the stretch.

She has taken 14.0 shots per game over the eight games. Her season average is 12.5. She has 33 assists against 13 turnovers in the span.

Fewer Minutes, A Deeper Rotation

Sunday’s rotation ran the length of the bench. Dallas got 32 points from its reserves against Connecticut’s 12, and every player who dressed for the Wings got on the floor. Fernandez pulled his starters for most of the fourth quarter with the lead at 31 points.

Jessica Shepard, who played 22 minutes, 44 seconds, addressed the reduced workload afterward.

“I think it was great, obviously, today that we were able to take care of business, and it was exciting to see all of our bench get in today because they do such a great job of working hard every day,” Shepard said. “So obviously it’s nice to be able to play lower minutes tonight.”

Ogunbowale and Shepard have played together since Notre Dame, where they won the 2018 national championship. Ogunbowale re-signed with Dallas on a seven-figure, multi-year deal ahead of this season.

What’s Next

Dallas visits Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. CT at CareFirst Arena. The game airs locally on KFAA and streams on WNBA League Pass.