Injuries Derail Wings, Too Early to Panic?
A series of injuries and road struggles have the Dallas Wings sitting at 3-3. Could a two game homestand change all that, or might the team find itself in an early hole?
A week ago the Dallas Wings were 3-1 and looking as though they were on the verge of something special. Fast forward to now, and the team is 3-3 having lost their last two games.
Dallas sits in seventh among the WNBA standings, tied with the Washington Mystics for sixth and remain just a game out from third.
What could this mean going forward? Should Dallas be concerned or is the team just a couple of games from taking that next step?
In their past two games the Wings lost by six points or less, with one of the games being a one point defeat.
Against the Connecticut Sun, Dallas put up a fight after being down 17 points. The Wings outscored the Sun in the second half 44-36, but failed to capture the lead late in the game. Three-point shooting seemed to be of concern as well, as the team went 9-26 from beyond the arc on Sunday.
Flashback to Friday night and the trend was the same. Against the Washington, Dallas knocked down 28 percent of their attempted threes. League wide the Wings ranks 10th in three-point percentage shooting 31.4 percent.
Dallas did find some scoring help against Connecticut in Crystal Dangerfield, who scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting, as she knocked down 50 percent of her attempted threes. However, she suffered an apparent ankle late in the third quarter. She is currently listed as day-to-day.
Injuries have seem to be the talk of the town. Earlier this season it was reported that 2021 WNBA Champion Diamond DeShields would be out indefinitely with an apparent knee injury.
To make matters worse, rookie Lou Lopez Sénéchal has been out with an apparent knee injury she suffered during her time with UConn and team starter Teaira McCowan who recently recovered from a knee injury is away from the team, as she committed to playing in Turkey.
McCowan’s absence has been noted. On Sunday Dallas allowed for 40 points in the paint, accounting for half of Connecticut’s score.
So it begs the question: Should Dallas begin to panic?
With a season still in the early stages, the Wings have all the intangibles to make a late run.
Right now the team has two players in Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale averaging above 20 points a game, with Sabally averaging a double-double. Against the Sun, Sabally did all she could dropping in 26 points to go with 14 rebounds and three steals. Since the start of the season, she has been on fire shooting 46.8 percent from the field including knocking down 37 percent of her shots from behind the three.
She ranks as the league’s third leading scorer, with teammate Ogunbowale trailing behind her at six.
Along with that Dallas ranks third in points per game, first in free throw percentage and first in offensive rebounds.
With five of their six games in Arlington look for the Wings to get back on track, as the team has a 2-0 record at home.
Just imagine a squad at full strength with Sabally, Howard and McCowan leading the frontcourt with Ogunbowale, DeShields, Burton and Dangerfield in the backcourt.
These next three months will be crucial for a team looking to pass the first round with hopes to win its first WNBA title after moving to Arlington.