ARLINGTON, Texas — Paige Bueckers sees nothing fundamentally wrong with the Dallas Wings, and the guard said Saturday that the errors behind a 1-2 start are correctable.
Speaking after practice, Bueckers said the loss to the Minnesota Lynx showed miscommunications rather than anything structural, and that the film reinforced her belief that the problems can be cleaned up.
“I think most, if not all, of our mistakes and miscommunications are fixable,” Bueckers said. “We saw that in film. We felt that during the game, that it’s just stuff that we can clean up, and we feel like we’re being ourselves. So to be able to have that realization and then have those talks about what we need to do to improve, I feel like we want to continue to get better. We watched the film, we digested it, and we’re going to keep moving forward and get better from day to day.”
The Wings host the Washington Mystics on Monday in the finale of a three-game homestand, with all three of Dallas’ games decided late.
Paige Bueckers Pinpoints Pick-and-Roll Breakdowns
Bueckers traced Thursday’s 90-86 home loss to specific defensive lapses: a low man who was slow to rotate to the help side, and a failure to box out that handed Minnesota second chances.
“I think being on the same page in our pick-and-roll coverage,” Bueckers said. “A lot of times it’s hard to guard pick-and-rolls, especially with a great playmaker like Olivia Miles, who can see the floor. But to be on a string, we didn’t have our low man in help side in rotation quick enough. So those are things that we looked at. Then there was just 50/50 balls, offensive rebounds that Natasha Howard got that were in crucial moments. So it’s little things like that, boxing out, making sure we’re not turning and looking at the rim, and then pick-and-roll defense, us being in low man, us being in help side, and not so hooked up to our players.”
Bueckers said Saturday’s film gave the Wings their first real look at the Spain pick-and-roll, an action Minnesota used to stress the Dallas defense. She said the team now has an answer for it.
“That was our first time ever seeing the Spain coverage here,” Bueckers said. “So to be able to have that now in our back pocket to know how to defend it, a lot of times you learn through repetition and you learn through failure. So to have that now under our belt, I think we’ll be a lot better in that regard.”
Reading Defenses And Learning From Stephen Curry
Bueckers was one of the most gravitational players in the WNBA last season, drawing more defensive attention away from the ball than anyone in the league. She said the way to manage that attention is to read coverage rather than force the issue.
“Just to read what the defenses are giving me,” Bueckers said. “Started off the game aggressive, started off the second half aggressive. Just seeing a lot of single coverage, and then towards the end of the game they were trapping in booths and everything. So to be able to play off of that and just read what the defense is giving me and be selfless too, being able to get off of it, being able to be a screener.”
Bueckers used Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry as an example of how to operate off-ball to reshape defenses.
“If you watch Steph Curry, he’s probably the best screener in the NBA, and he has the best gravity in the NBA,” Bueckers said. “So to sort of mimic after him in his off-ball movements, his off-ball screening and his selflessness is something that I’ve actually learned from him a lot.”
Sustaining Ball Movement And Late-Game Execution
Head coach Jose Fernandez emphasized keeping the offense in motion for a full 40 minutes. Bueckers said the keys are to swing the ball across the floor and, at times, to pass up an early shot to work deeper into the clock.
“Just changing sides of the floor, making the defense work, sometimes passing up the first available shot to get deeper in the shot clock,” Bueckers said. “But too, we’re trying to remain aggressive, get out in transition, and we’re taking good shots for the most part. But then obviously there’s some tough ones that we feel like we can get the ball moving a little bit from side to side more. And just trusting that the ball will come back to you, the ball will find you if you play the right way.”
Bueckers said the Wings’ preferred pace, pushing in transition and attacking before a defense is set, becomes harder to sustain late, when the game slows. She said Dallas has to have half-court sets and go-to plays ready for the fourth quarter.
“All teams really don’t want to play in the half court as much as possible,” Bueckers said. “It’s much harder to score against a set defense. So to be able to get out, play in the full court, play in high pick-and-rolls, attack when the defense isn’t set and they’re in rotation and there’s mismatches on the floor. But then too, once the fourth quarter comes around, it’s a lot harder to score in transition. We’ll make sure our half-court execution and our sets are in line, and we have some go-to plays to go to at the end of the game. So yeah, it’s just a mix and a battle to find the even balance of both of those.”
With all three Wings games decided late, Bueckers said the lesson is the value of a stop when points are scarce, and that the team wants to be sharper coming out of the third quarter so leads do not slip away.
“I think how important getting stops is,” Bueckers said. “Honestly, if both teams aren’t scoring, that’s way better than just getting scored on. It’s hard to score in the fourth quarter. It’s hard to score in crunch time. Defenses are so locked in to getting stops. So how can we execute better? How can we get to what sets we want to run better and find those sets that we want to go to late in games? And also while remaining balanced and poised, not losing our composure. But also too, we feel like there’s things throughout an entire 40-minute game that can help us pull away late in fourth quarters. I know we’ve been up to start the fourth, so to be more disciplined out of our third quarters and our fourth quarters to help us gain momentum and the lead.”
Veteran Leadership Keeps Dallas Wings Steady
Bueckers credited the Wings’ veterans, some of whom have lived through far rougher starts, for keeping the locker room steady while the outside noise builds.
“Veteran leadership,” Bueckers said. “People who have been through this before. People who have started 0-10, 0-5. A 1-2 start is not the end of the world. Everybody’s in panic mode, but we’re remaining stable and we’re remaining constant in who we want to be every single day. Just to not let it waver us, but let it build us and make us better. There’s a lot of things we want to get better at and clean up on, but we want to do it with the right intention. So just staying together, having tough conversations, talking about it, talking through it, and watching the film, holding ourselves accountable, looking ourselves in the mirror, and then just wanting to be better every single day.”
Bueckers said the Wings remain focused on themselves three games into the season, even with a capable Mystics team next. She said she had watched a couple of Washington’s games and came away impressed by its pace and unselfishness.
“Honestly, we were so focused on ourselves today, we haven’t really gotten to the scout yet,” Bueckers said. “But I watched a couple of their games. They play really fast. They play really selfless. They have really good off-ball movement. Obviously, they have great frontcourt play, great backcourt play. So we’re just really focused on who we are right now and trying to find that identity.”
Bueckers led the Wings with a season-high 27 points and 8 assists in the loss to Minnesota, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. She is averaging 20.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists on 57.1% shooting through three games.
Up Next
The Wings close their three-game homestand Monday against the Mystics at College Park Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on Peacock.
