Writer and Podcaster Nekias Duncan’s mid-June review of the Dallas Wings this season made one thing clear. While trying to find an identity under Head Coach Chris Koclanes, the Wings kept leaning towards an aggressive defense. They were going all out when it came to blitzing against ball screens. Only one team in the league, the Sparks, had a higher percentage of doing so. The problem with that style of defense was that it demanded fast, smart rotations. And Dallas’ young roster could not quite handle that, and the result was a lot of messy plays and missed assignments. The obvious fix was to ease down a bit. However, almost one month later, would Duncan want to say that the Wings might have eased off way too much, refusing to play any defense? Well, the Head Coach would agree and disagree.

For the 19th time this season, the Dallas Wings found themselves on the losing end. Yes, this now feels completely normal if you are a neutral. Everybody is just used to seeing them lose now. The latest team to pile on the misery? Becky Hammon’s Las Vegas Aces. Despite their own ups and downs this year, they didn’t seem to miss a beat and steamrolled past the Paige Bueckers-less Dallas Wings side 106-80.

Sure, resting Bueckers didn’t help. Without her, Dallas just couldn’t get anything going offensively. They shot just 38% from the field and hit just 4 three-pointers the entire game. To make matters worse, they could only register 15 assists the whole game. To put that in context, the Aces registered 30 assists in the same game. But with Bueckers out, offensive adjustments were expected. And that is also exactly why the focus should have shifted towards defense.

At the postgame press conference, coach Chris Koclanes was asked by reporter Joey Mistretta what the Dallas Wings need to change to become true contenders. His answer was crystal clear: “It’s defense, first and foremost… Offensively we show spurts and we need consistency more on both sides of the floor but we need to know that we’re going to give ourselves a chance every night on the defensive end. And right now, that just hasn’t been the case… It’s defense, first and foremost.”

He’s not wrong. Defense was a major concern against the Aces. The Wings allowed them to shoot 48% from the field and knock down 15 threes. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they also gave up 26 points off just 12 turnovers, highlighting once again how vulnerable they are in transition defense. And that’s been the story all season for the Wings. They’re allowing 86.6 points per game, making them the fourth-worst defensive team in the league with a defensive rating of 107.2. Injuries definitely haven’t helped the Wings this season, especially with last year’s Most Improved Player, DiJonai Carrington, missing 9 games. But the defensive struggles go beyond just availability.

Size has been another major issue for Paige Bueckers and co. Outside of Yueru, Geiselsöder, and McCowan, the roster is mostly made up of players hovering around the 6-foot mark. When your backcourt features players like Arike Ogunbowale at 5’8″ and Aziaha James at 5’10”, it becomes clear that a lack of size is hurting this team on both ends of the floor. However, wait for it. Koclanes was not flagging defense as a whole.

Postgame, Koclanes agreed that the Wings still couldn’t put a lid on the Aces’ shooting or A’ja Wilson’s sneaky playmaking, but also implied that at least they didn’t let A’ja Wilson drop another 37-piece on them. The reigning MVP was held to a much more reasonable 14 points this time. “We have to be able to do both [slow down Wilson and her teammates]. That’s what defending is all about. Right now we’re very one dimensional,” Koclanes said. “We need to be able to do more than one thing defensively.”

That said, missing Paige was still a huge blow for the Wings. After all, her record-breaking rookie season doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Paige Bueckers creates history

We’ve known for years that Paige Bueckers is one of a kind. But what we didn’t expect were back-to-back historic rookie runs in the W after Caitlin Clark’s record-shattering debut last season. Seems like the basketball gods are blessing us once again as Paige Bueckers is putting on a show and reminding everyone just how rare and special her talent really is.

After the loss against the Golden State Valkyries, Paige did what she does best – break records. She became the first rookie in league history to score over 350 points and 100 assists in just 20 games. Yep, you read that right! It’s not Caitlin Clark, but Bueckers who has this incredible milestone.

While Bueckers’ record-breaking performances have only translated to 7 wins for Dallas so far, her value to this team is undeniable. Dallas is 1-5 without her and 6-14 with Bueckers. Now, sure, this roster might not be built to contend this season and maybe not even strong enough for a playoff push. But when you’ve got a generational talent like her, build around her the right way, and success will follow.