Paige Bueckers finally got the first taste of winning in the WNBA, and it took place in front of her old home crowd. Dallas opened their accounts with a comprehensive 109-87 win over the Connecticut Sun, with Bueckers showing why she is called a generational talent. The former UConn star finished with 21 points and 7 assists and received a standing ovation from the crowd that she entertained during college. The team now stands at 1-4, but at least that zero is off their back. But the losses and how they came about? Yeah, they point at a rather grim picture for the Wings.
Such a start was somewhat expected from the Wings, considering they are going through a complete rebuild after bringing in new management, a new coach in Chris Koclanes, and just three players from their 2024 season squad. Starting off with a fresh slate isn’t easy, and this national reporter has issued a stern warning for how the Wings are playing so far.
When asked about what he thinks while watching the Wings play, Logan Murdock said on The Ringer WNBA show, “Just seeing a whole bunch of just terrible sets, just uninspired play except for Paige.”
Well, the Wings are led by someone who has never had a head coaching job in his life. Chris Koclanes has worked primarily as an assistant coach and video coordinator, most notably under Curt Miller with the Los Angeles Sparks. He worked in the same capacity with the Connecticut Sun earlier. Even as an assistant at USC, he spent only one season. Despite his inexperience as a head coach, he was promoted to lead the Dallas Wings in 2025 after Miller took over as the team’s Executive VP and GM.
So, he might study every theory and tactic involved in basketball, but you just can’t recreate experience. Koclanes lacks the most effective method to maximize the talent that he has. He largely has to depend on his own ingenuity to provide creativity on the court, as he goes up against coaches who have spent years with the same team in the WNBA. We do have many new coaches in the W this season, like Natalie Nakase of the Valkyries and Tyler Marsh of the Chicago Sky, but the common point between them? A rocky start.
He further said, “That’s what I see every game, like this team sucks. Damn, Paige is a gamer. Wow! And then that’s that’s my that’s my game recap for every Dallas Wings game. ‘Oh, shit, did you see what Paige just did?’”
That has been the story for Wings so far: brilliance from the 23-year-old guard every game, except for her debut, when she had 10 points. Bueckers has had more than 10 points and five assists in each of the games since. She has been the sun for the Wings, but simultaneously, without much support.
Murdock also questioned Arike Ogunbowale’s performances so far, saying, “Where the h— is Arike? That’s the other thought that I have during Dallas Wings games. And why didn’t she? Why aren’t they both effective? That’s the other thought I have.”
Now we don’t know whether this was recorded before or after Connecticut, but Arike’s overall performance hasn’t been up to her standards. She did drop 19 points against the Sun and 21 in the loss against the Lynx, but her stats this season so far read an average of 13.8 points. And this comes right after the season where she finished as the second-best in the league after A’ja Wilson in scoring.
Bueckers is so far juggling most of the point guard duties, and there’s not a ton of ball movement in the Wings’ offense (their 59.6 assist percentage ranks 10th in the league). Her career field goal percentage reads 39.1%, so she needs to shoot more in order to score more. The current system of the Wings is not giving her enough opportunities to shoot. She has had 14.0 field goal attempts per game this year as opposed to 19.2 last year. Her efficiency has been even worse than normal, shooting at 30% this season. Either her efficiency should improve, or the system should adapt to her game.
Paige Bueckers should have been the key that further unlocks the 28-year-old and takes her even beyond her 2024 season stats. It has not worked out that way, as she has had to carry the team in both scoring and assisting. The defense has also been a disappointment, as they rank 11th in the league in defensive rebounds. Despite that, their Sun game showed glimpses of what they can do.
Paige Bueckers breaks yet another record on her Connecticut return
With 73 points and 32 assists in her first five games, Bueckers became the first player in WNBA history to reach at least 60 points and 30 assists in the process. After that somewhat uncomfortable start against the Lynx, she has never looked back. And since people love the Clark-Bueckers comparisons, she achieved this feat in her sixth game, and it was close. Clark had 89 points and 29 assists in her first five games.
In the win against the Connecticut Sun, Paige Bueckers’ complete stat line read 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting an impressive 80 percent from the field on 8-of-10 shooting. This combination of scoring, rebounding, and playmaking with such high efficiency is exceptionally rare for a rookie. In fact, no WNBA rookie had recorded at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on 80 percent shooting since Temeka Johnson accomplished it in 2005. Johnson won the 2005 Rookie of the Year, and Bueckers will hope to follow in her footsteps in 2025.
As many individual records as Bueckers may create this season, she will hope to make some strides with the team, too. This win might inspire the Wings on a winning streak, but everyone should remain on their A game to do so. They will next face a team drenched in controversy but yet to win a game this season, the Chicago Sky.
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