See the Vision? Dallas Wings show signs of improvement in final preseason tuneup

The roster has turned over significantly. Paige Bueckers is now sharing the backcourt with Arike Ogunbowale. How much of a turnaround can we expect from the Wings this year?

ARLINGTON, TX — No big surprise here — Paige Bueckers received a huge roar from the crowd gathered at College Park Center on Saturday when she was introduced in the starting lineup for her first home game with the Dallas Wings. No big surprise here, either — her new partner in the backcourt and the WNBA’s second-leading scorer in 2024, Arike Ogunbowale, did, too.

Those roars grew even louder when the pair started making plays together. Bueckers gathered a loose ball in one hand along the right wing with 2:20 left in the first quarter against the visiting Toyota Antelopes from the Women’s Japan Basketball League and whipped it inside for a look-away assist to a cutting Ogunbowale in one motion to put the Wings up 20-14.

“Paige just gets you easy buckets,” Ogunbowale said of the first-quarter play that subsequently went semi-viral. “Even if you think she doesn’t see you, she sees you. That’s just going to be all year, so I’m excited about that.”

The Wings scored 17 of the final 19 points in the first quarter to take a 29-14 lead after one. Bueckers and Ogunbowale each scored a pair of buckets in the first, and the No. 1 overall draft pick out of UConn added three assists in the frame. First-year head coach Chris Konclanes said before the game that no one would play more than about 25 minutes in this last preseason tuneup before the team’s first regular season game against the Minnesota Lynx on Friday.

It’s no secret — Bueckers and Ogunbowale will be the featured playmakers for the Wings this season, and that play late in the first provided fans a glimpse of what’s to come as the chemistry continues to brew in the backcourt.

“They’re already incredible playmakers,” Koclanes said. “And they’re just going to continue to get more and more comfortable in our system. I’m extremely encouraged.”

Bueckers brought the ball up just as much on Saturday as Ogunbowale did when the two were on the floor together. DiJonae Carrington initiated the Wings offense a few times as well. The trio made it a point to get out and run against the Antelopes, often finding forward Maddy Siegrist out in front in transition as Dallas turned the game lopsided in the second quarter.

Siegrist was the first player off the bench for the Wings in the preseason finale and scored 10 points in the first half. Dallas exercised the team’s option for the fourth year of her rookie contract earlier this week, as the forward out of Villanova enters her third season with the team. Could her own upward career trajectory mirror an inflection point for the Wings this year?

Ogunbowale led the Wings with 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the first half, while Myisha Hines-Allen added 10 as well. Bueckers netted nine points and six assists in just over 15 first-half minutes.

Late in the second, Bueckers made her way past the defender in front of her for an uncontested driving hoop. Then, two seconds later, Ogunbowale stole the ball in the backcourt and found Carrington for another easy hoop to give Dallas a 54-29 lead with 2:20 left before the half. You never want to make assumptions based on a preseason game against an international opponent, but if Dallas’ budding core of four or more can develop cohesion relatively quickly this year, the Wings could be onto something after last season’s 9-31 stinker.

If there’s one word to define Bueckers’ game against the Antelopes on Saturday, it would be “smooth.” Make no mistake, she will flash this season, but Saturday’s performance was not a flashy one. She took what was given to her and showed an ability to win physical battles in the backcourt. She can hold her own through contact and win in battles for boards. Bueckers may already be a top-25 player in the WNBA, and she hasn’t really pulled any of her most significant tricks out of the bag.

Her first 3-point make of the game came from the left wing on a kick-out from Siegrist. That brought the score to 74-36 midway through the third.

Can you see the vision? Bueckers and Ogunbowale shot a combined 5-of-9 from 3-point range, scored 32 combined points, gave out 12 assists between them and powered the Wings’ machine in what ended up as a 119-52 win. Siegrist provided punch off the bench with 14. If the rest of the pieces can find a fit accordingly, a turnaround just might be in the cards.

“We have great players who draw a lot of attention, so I will get some easy buckets,” Ogunbowale said, comparing her offensive workload this preseason to last year. “I’m excited for some easy buckets this year. I’ll take my hard ones, too, but players like Paige and DiJonae and our fours with their back-door passing — they’re going to get me some easy buckets, and vice versa, so I’m excited about that.”

How big of one? Time will tell much more than blowing out a team from Japan in the preseason will.