[ad_1]
All through the Texas winter, Coach Vicky Johnson He talked about how the Wings are still a good team.
But despite a good season since the team moved to Dallas, the Wings haven’t lived up to their potential, mostly due to injuries.
That warning adds extra weight to a season that saw the Wings complete their first ever undefeated record and go on a five-game winning streak. Win the playoff game And Set up a postseason game.
“[We were] It’s close, but not because we didn’t have a full roster,” Johnson said after the regular season finale.
The Wings have played 39 games this season, 36 regular season contests and three postseason games. They had full rosters for about a fifth of those games. That percentage includes Game 3 against the Suns, where Isabelle Harrison exited in the second quarter and Eric Ogunbowale played limited minutes due to an abdominal injury.
2021 All-Star Satu Sabali has only played in 14 games due to overseas commitments, an ankle injury and a knee injury.
Injuries are part of the game. But Sabali on the shelf for most of the season, Taylor McCowan After taking more than a month to find her form with her new team and Ogunbowale missing the season finale, she was never able to assess the entire team Dallas had built — and how all the pieces worked together.
That’s why, with the Wings playing their best games of the year, Johnson still sees plenty of room to grow.
“85%,” Johnson said after the playoff victory about how close the team came to achieving its goal. “We’re still missing Eric.”
But the injury gave players an opportunity to develop, especially in the last few weeks of the season, and Johnson has had to be impressed with his performances.
Marina Mabrey played most of the season outside of her natural position off the ball, playing most of the year at point guard until Ogunbowale’s injury.
Johnson wasn’t afraid to push Mabrey in her new role, and the ever-competitive New Jersey native was up to the challenge. But when Ogunbowale went down, Mabray relinquished primary ball-handling duties and moved into an off-ball role as a goal scorer. She prospered there.
“We reached our goal this year to make the playoffs and also win a game,” Mabry said. It wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do. But perspective is everything.
Rookie point guard Veronica Burton didn’t make a basket until the ninth game of the season. Her defense was legit off the jump but she seemed very hesitant on offense.
“I have learned a lot in my time. I thank my teammates and coaches for just supporting him through the ups and downs and the mistakes.” Burton said.
But that changed when she replaced Ogunbowale in the starting line-up. She did everything with more confidence, bettering two highlight-reel drives and a touchdown in the first quarter of Game 3 against Connecticut — neither of which she would have attempted even a month ago.
Alisha Gray was considered the biggest snub of this year’s All-Star Game by the greater WNBA community. McCowan put it all together in the second half of the season and earned Western Conference Player of the Month for August. Aja Wilson and Breanna Stewart are the only two players to win the award this year, finishing first and second in the WNBA MVP voting. Awkward Queer and Ty Harris have taken steps forward in their development.
The team won each of its top five playoff seeds, including three games in the regular season and a playoff game outside of Connecticut.
“When you see yourself doing something, you believe it more,” Mabrey said.
But there were still unresolved issues that resulted in disappointing losses. The start of the second half has been an Achilles’ heel for the Wings all season, as have been the last five minutes of games.
The attack can be stalled and the ball can become stickier than chewed gum. Boxing was a problem in the game against Connecticut.
The WNBA’s free agency doesn’t begin until Jan. 15, leaving a long window of time between major events.
But this offseason is the biggest of the Wings’ rebuild. The 2022 Wings haven’t been perfect, but they’ve proven to have the core of what makes them one of the league’s best teams.
In this respect, the reconstruction was successful. But you don’t do big rebuilds like that for first-round exits.
The team is one or two away from being a true title contender. Dallas’ cap space is getting tight. Ogunbowale Supermax Extension is starting. McCowan and Mabray are entering restricted free agency. Harrison is an unrestricted free agent. Sabali extension is online.
Year 2 with Johnson as coach — for all his warts — should be credited to Dallas’ success.
But now there are decisions.
“We’re building something different here,” Johnson said. It was a step up by winning the playoffs. And then next year, it’s another step.
We are still building a championship team and that is what we expect.
+++
[ad_2]
Source link
