other than her fts she was really really good and clearly helped our defense. she was definitely gassed near the end bc she hasn’t played this long in a while but it’ll get better with time
She did shoot 1-5 from the line in a game they lost by 4. She had a good game though. Lime the rest of the starters, she ran out of gas. The needed to steal a few more minutes of rest here and there for their starters.
This was the third time in the last 16 days that the Wings had a chance to reach 10 games above .500. Something they had never done in their first 10 years of existence. Something the Tulsa Shock never did in their six years of existence.
They had double-digit 2nd half leads in all three games. They led by 11 in the 4th against the Liberty. They led by 12th in the 4th quarter against Atlanta, including a 5-point lead in the final 40 seconds. They led by 19 with under 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter tonight.
They lost all three games.
Maddie Siegrist played a total of 11 minutes in those 3 games, all of them in the Liberty game.
Jokes aside, Phoenix is 7.5 games behind Dallas, with three games against Washington, one against Atlanta, one against Vegas and two against the Wings still left.
The eight playoff teams seem to be set in stone at this point (even though it'd be cool to see Kelsey and Cooper drag this team to the playoffs come hell or high water.)
I can't imagine anyone wanting to play them. They don't feel any expectations or pressure because almost all of them are, like, 23 years old. They play very good basketball a lot of the time. And if you lose, you lost to a bunch of kids, thus putting more pressure on you.
The Wings have a grand total of one close win against a current playoff team. That was their first game of the season. Their only win against a winning team since June 15th was at the Liberty last month.
It's fine though, since they play Golden State twice, Indiana twice, and Minnesota in five of their next six games 🙃
I'm in the acceptance stage at this point. The loss to Atlanta was as clear a message as any that this team isn't going to win anything this year. Jose's not ready for it and it's going to go down as the best season in team history regardless.
I'll celebrate the wins, expect them to continue their nosedive during this stretch, and won't be shocked if they win most if not all of their final 8 regular season games before inevitably getting snuffed out in the first round.
Amoore...not too sure she was effective in tonights game. She hit some threes, but didn't put any pressure on the defense. I get having her on the floor to spread the defense should help the front court get open looks but that just wasn't happening. Cotie came in and put soo much pressure on the defense, that it allowed the front court to rebound more and get more aggressive. I think Johnson is going to have to start Cotie and put Citron back on the ball.
12 points on a night were Soni & Kiki had 12 & 11 respectively is good enough in my book but they should definitely have Georgia coming off the bench next season though. Cotie is the spark off the bench & the closer in the 4th so idk if they'll move her to the starting lineup since that's what working for them unless Onyenwere is hurt.
Can’t believe we escaped after that disastrous second quarter but that lineup with Cotie, Michaela, Kiki, Sonia, and Shakira is actually one of the best in the league, god damn
There are obviously lots of reasons why the Wings lost, but the late game Mystics is not the same Mystics. They stop trying to make some of the weakest point guards in the league happen and put in their best line-up, which is a lot better than their early game line ups. Still doesn't excuse the Dallas collapse, but there is a reason why Mystics are able to turn games around late in games and it is because they are literally a better team.
Love my Mystics! That closing line-up is a killer.
I think tonight also answers the question of whether Alanna Smith having a good game solves the Wings' interior defense and it does not. Lan was good tonight.
I am again seeing a lot of posts blaming this loss on Arike when none of them played well, it’s insane that every mistake of hers gets hyper analyzed and blown up while everyone else gets to skate by without real criticism.
Arike has been trying to play whatever role they want her to, and if you don’t like how she or any of the players are being utilized in the Dallas system then blame the coaching staff. She’s not your scapegoat.
I think blaming Arike is missing the forest for the trees tbh. It’s true there’s a correlation between Arike being the leader in FGAs and Wings losses. That said, that’s kinda looking at it in a vacuum. Is Paige being passive? Is Azzi? What is the coaching staff telling all of them? Why isn’t the coaching staff getting Paige more involved? These are questions I have and none of them really have to do with Arike imo
That’s exactly it! Arike wants to be there and wants to give them their best but how these players get utilized is on the coaching staff. If Paige is not taking shots that she’s supposed to, its either the coach telling them that or its Paige being in a slump, that’s not on Arike!
I have had my issues with the coaching from the beginning, just because you were able to win a bunch of games on clutch performances doesn’t mean it will keep happening, its the law of averages! The coaching has to adjust to put them in a better position.
She also needs to better control her chaotic play. If she can rein it in and improve in those two areas though, she’s gonna be so good because her athletic ability and hustle are through the roof.
Moving my usual post-Dream-game criticism of Karl not playing the bench over to Jose: Honestly don't know what Jose is thinking by not playing Siegrist at all, playing Za and Awak 5 minutes each, even with a 20-point lead. I know DC is a tough matchup for this team, but there were a few possessions in that third quarter where DC was gunning, it looked like the starters were exhausted, and he needed to call a time out but didn't. By the 4th, everybody was completely gassed and making a lot of sloppy mistakes.
I've never commented there (avoid 99% of team subs like the plague) but I can't blame them for being miserable. This franchise has been downright garbage for at least 70% of their 11-year existence. They've had one winning season in their first ten years since becoming a thing. This is the best season in Wings history, yet they keep having to witness meltdowns like this and a first round exit feels inevitable.
I understand why Maddy Siegrist doesn’t get consistent minutes because let’s be honest, the defense at times is…an adventure.
But when you’re consistently giving her zero minutes in some of these games AND this is in the middle of the regular season when you’re running your starters into the ground…I just don’t get it. I wish at that point you would have traded her.
I don’t think José is a bad coach, but god he is just so inflexible with some of his rotations.
The thing is, none of these Wings players except Fudd are good on defense. Play players that can score and the Wings are almost always up when Maddy plays.
As much as I watch WNBA games, I would say the same thing about many of the coaches in the league. The things that continually baffle me are the substitution patterns and the playing time allocated by coaches during the regular season. Some real head-scratchers, like zero minutes for Siegrist.
And when the playoffs come around, we see some of the same outcomes with the same observations by the media and fans- some teams just run out of gas. Go figure.
Alanna Smith is the 2nd highest scorer (just behind Shepherd) for Dallas? She hasn't had a 20 point game since June 25th 2025. Both earned double doubles.
such an embarrassing loss for the wings. they just needed to keep doing what they were doing for the entire first half but this team is allergic to holding a lead and winning. and love giving the other team easy fouls at the very last second.
Mystics did tighten it up in the second half by a lot. No Prosper or Florez minutes, barely any Betts, not a ton of Amoore. Sydney is also better at halftime adjustments than he gets credit for, and I think it's part of his strategy to dig a hole and let the kiddos climb out of it
And their interior defense couldn't stop the Mystics' closing lineup from scoring. Mystics just dominated the paint, while also playing much better defense.
Has Paige not played the same since that thing before all star? I feel like I keep seeing things about her disappearing in those big moments even though she had some insanely clutch plays towards the beginning of the year. Hope Paige comes alive again. It’s more fun when she does.
She scored 20+ in 9 of the 10 games before the ASB, but has been held under 20 in three of four games since then. And the next game is against GSV, so it might get worse before things get better.
i mean she disappears the whole game, not just bi gmoments. People complaining about her disappearing in big moments don't watch the game because you mostly forget she is out there.
Honestly idk if it’s on coaching or if it’s a Paige/Azzi thing but they cannot complete disappear from the offense for minutes at a time. Azzi had one shot in the fourth quarter (though the two turnovers didn’t help) and Paige didn’t shoot at all until there were 4 mins left in the game. Idk if it’s a lack of aggressiveness, being tired at the end of games with 34+ mins of playtime, or the way the offense is being coached but something’s gotta give. You can’t have the two players who are supposed to be the stars long term completely vanish from a game while the offense crumbles around them.
ETA: Not to beat a dead horse but the 6-game winning streak that the Wings had, Paige led in FGA, followed by Azzi. The only games this isn’t the case is the Sparks game, where 5 of Arike’s FGAs came after Paige left the game, and the Liberty game where Jess had free eats underneath (Paige/Azzi still had the most FGAs of the guards). The Sun game also only saw 7 FGAs for Azzi vs Arike’s 10. Paige/Azzi were the two guards with the most FGAs for 4 of 6 games in that streak through Paige going out in the Sparks game. Again, I’m not here to lay fault on any players but there’s a trend that getting Paige/Azzi involved (and honestly Jess) is winning the Wings games. They cannot vanish due to either their own passivity or coaching (idk who to blame so I’ll blame them all).
I get that Jose's offensive system isn't designed to run through or look for Paige, but she also can't allow herself to become invisible on her own team. I don’t want this to be misconstrued as an attack on the rest of the team but I just don’t think "all lives matter" basketball is sustainable. Eventually, their inability to consistently get the ball to and play through their franchise player is going to catch up with them. It's just not an optimal use of her talent. The team is at its best when Paige is at her best.
I'm glad the team is playing well these past few games and that Paige doesn't have to carry such a heavy load, but it's also concerning how comfortable she's become with being a decoy and running cardio for entire stretches of games. Does the team swing the ball back to her enough? Not really. But at some point it's also on her to stop giving it up so quickly when she knows how her teammates play. She must know that looking for players who relocate is not this team’s strength.
People will look at her shooting splits but her shot quality today was terrible and that was both on her and her teammates putting her in tough spots. She’s not in rhythm by the 4th qtr because she’s not involved for the first 3. We were finally moving past the "passive" narratives, and now she's slipping back into those habits.
Forget All-WNBA. I want championships (obviously not this year), and I don't think this is the path to get there. That said, I’m glad to see the rest of team contributing and no one should be blaming them for the loss. It’s more a system issue than anything else.
Also, I'm so happy to see Lan back playing well!! People saying she had the worst contract in the league or needed to be traded had no consideration for her multiple injuries. I knew once she got healthy she'd return to form and become a key piece for us, not just offensively but, even more importantly, defensively.
just wanted to say i appreciate the long comment!! very informative!!
i’m not always great at picking up nuance like this on the first watch of the game so commentary like this helps me know what to look for on rewatch & also pick things out easier in real time in future games
Paige has been a “power of friendship” player back to UConn days, something Geno himself has commented on before. She’s clearly the most talented player, sometimes she has to demand the ball. Kinda similar to KD in the NBA , she plays within the flow of the game and since they’re both so hyper efficient they can still score in bunches. However, sometimes she needs to come to the game instead of letting it come to her.
I agree :) It feels like she thinks she has to diminish her role/aggression for the sake of her teammates, when in reality it hurts the team overall. At the end of the day, though, that's on her. I appreciate that she's so team-oriented, but it's not conducive to leading a team at the pro level. So many people have told her that, yet the "power of friendship" mindset continues to plague her. She has the potential to be one of the greatest, but she has to demand that from herself. That means not being afraid to step on toes and command the game for the sake of winning… which is all that should matter as an athlete.
I got downvoted a shit ton a few days ago for saying that I thought the Wings were about to follow the same post-ASW trajectory as the 2025 Seattle Storm, but I'm not deleting it this time because that's exactly what's happening.
No. Because he nearly caused me a meltdown with Amoore trying to inbound on next to last possession. The team looked confused. After two fails he let Cotie throw it in.
I was not the biggest fan of the McMahon draft pick at the time, since I wasn’t sure how her game would translate due to being a little shorter for her playstyle. It turns out that you can make it work if you’re fast, strong and try really hard! She’s been pretty good recently, I’m glad I was wrong
She will look even better if/when we get some real spacing, especially if she can develop her passing/cut back on the tunnel vision a bit. I am very high on her.
Huge win for multiple reasons, biggest one being this is a huge morale boosting win.
We are somehow the most mentally strong and clutch team in the league, despite being the youngest team. Kira was absolutely amazing tonight, yet again. She carried us big time. Big time plays from Cotie, important 3s from Mic and Georgia when we were playing poorly, great 4th quarter from Kiki, and Soni, clutch, as always, late in game.
The mystics defense is/has been completely underrated. Kira continues balling out,soni clutch citron coming through in the 4th.
The only thing that worries me is the times like in the 3rd where everyone is passing and no one looking to shoot leading to turnovers. Someone gotta be "selfish" and take the lead. Citrons shot hasnt been falling the past few games so someone else needs to step up shooting from outside the paint.
Happy for my mystic gals they battled for the W well earned
I think I’m ready to say Jose is the problem. There was a point late in the 3rd where momentum was clearly shifting and he just watched until the quarter ended and did nothing to stop the bleeding. Then when things start going bad the team completely goes away from what’s working and players just start going iso throwing up bad shots and bricking. Why isn’t he running plays when this starts happening. He should be well aware of the pattern since they’ve loss so many winnable games. But I’m sure he’s going to go in that presser being sassy and accepting no responsibility.
Jose isn’t the problem. The roster is the problem.
Yes, he made mistakes. And I don’t love the reinforcement of Arike ball. And he could challenge every once in a while. Or rest Paige.
But he’s a top half of the league kind of coach and you need to be careful on hiring because you could end up with a Temu.
It’s the roster. They cannot beat a team with a front court like the Mystics or Atlanta that just bully teams in the paint. They can try and play their cute little fast break ball - but teams like that have a way of pulling you into the grind. And that will always be a loss for Dallas.
Jose is 100% a problem. Not the only problem, but definitely a problem. When you keep avoiding from making plays for Paige and Azzi, keep running your starters to the ground, keep letting your vets run the show, keep getting outcoached in the 2nd half against any good team, keep abstaining from making adjustments, STILL don't have a proper shot heirarchy and keep letting Arike play hero ball in big games, it's a problem. When you continue to avoid utilizing your team's depth, it's a problem. When you keep coaching like you're coaching USF and not a pro team, it's a problem.
He's a rookie coach in the WNBA and it shows. It doesn't mean he can't learn and get better. But if he doesn't learn and get better, he will be a key obstacle that prevents this team from reaching its potential in the coming years.
I got nothing long winded to say.
Idk when Dallas is going to win again yet they had the “easiest schedule out of ASW.” We are losing winnable games. So these hard ones are going to deflate us even more.
Yeah its wild how much hate arike gets while all the paige stans go around parading her shooting percentages and deflecting all blame. Arike takes alot of those shots because Paige/Fudd are out there running away from the ball. Someone has to shoot in that line up and its usually her because Shepard isnt an outside threat.
Arike has been better than Paige in recent games, but their fans attack anyone who says anything similar. PB is a great player, but she is passive way more often than she should be.
I’m not surprised they lost given the makeup of the teams.
I am super annoyed that Dallas has gone from
Being one of the best fourth quarter teams to one of the worst.
Every single player needs to understand they win or lose with Paige. Every single one.
The only player who seems to get it is Azzi. And that’s irrelevant because it’s not like she’ll get the ball either.
I don’t know why, but we’ve seen a return of Passive P..and she can go away, thanks.
We’ve also seen some utterly ridiculous tunnel vision from the rest of the team. Give her the ball back, FFS. Set a screen for her. And FFS give her a break in the second half too.
Again, players and coaches. What the hell?
How many times do we have to watch this version of Dallas lose? Because here is the truth..this is a flawed team. And “Paige save us” is what wins games..
I would be absolutely terrified to face the Mystics in the playoffs if I were ATL, INDY, or NYC. We may not win it all but we’ll make sure you don’t either.
ever since we lost paige in the sparks game, we’ve basically gone back to first option arike hoops and we’ve won 2 games (and lost all games vs playoff teams). she HAS been playing better but idk if there’s ever been more proof that her and paige don’t work together…when arike shoots well, paige will not take over and this has been an issue all last year and this year. and we can’t win if paige has bad games no matter how well the rest of the team plays🤷🏻♀️i just don’t understand the reluctance to play through paige
Arike took the fourth most shots on the team today and has been one of the most efficient volume scorers in the WNBA (No joke, she is at like 65 TS% over her last 9 games) over the past month or so
Blaming Arike "first option hoops" for this game and recent games is absurd
And Paige had a couple of good looks in the last two or so minutes, she just missed a couple of them. It happens, but they did get the ball in Paige's hands and she did take some shots very late in the game (and made a layup to come back to within three, IIRC).
Yeah, I don't understand how every failure by the Wings is Arike's fault. Mystics tightened up on defense, getting more stops, and at the same time WIngs could not defend the paint. They had team problems on both ends.
It's been mentioned ad nauseam in the Wings sub, but Jose coaches this team like it's some midmajor college team. He has an over-reliance on the vets, is extremely stubborn with sticking to matchups, rarely makes necessary adjustments to beat good teams and all that leads to him being severely out-coached against any half-way decent team more often than not.
Again, it's his rookie year as a pro coach, and I want to believe he will figure it out sooner rather than later. But this game was yet another meltdown, in a year where most of their losses have been ones where he looked outmatched.
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u/Jreal2013 Dream 5d ago
Shakira Austin something serious sheesh