Takeaways From Dallas Loss To Sun

By John R. Posey, USN

Arlington, TX—The Dallas Wings (14-11) limped into the All Star break with blowout loss to the Connecticut Sun (13-12) 92-75 before 4,935 at College Park Center. The Sun out-hustled, out-rebounded, and out-defended the Wings for four quarters despite All-Star Center Chiney Ogwumike playing only 15:57 due to an ejection.

Liz Cambage led the Wings with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Starting forwards, Glory Johnson and Kayla Thornton, chipped in 11 each.

There is a lot to digest from the loss. Here are some of my takeaways from the win.

1) The Wings have a match-up problem with small, quick guards. Jasmine Thomas and Courtney Williams provided headaches all night for Kayla Thornton, Skylar Diggins, Kaela Davis, and Allisha Gray. Williams drove baseline, all night, and dished off to a cutter for easy buckets to Shekinna Stricken (24 points) and Jonquel Jones (15 points). Stricklen’s previous high game this season was 12 points. She also set a career high shooting 8-11 from the three point line.

2) Skylar Diggins-Smith took only six shots and had 8 points. She only had 3 assists and 4 turnovers. The Wings need 18-22 a night from Skylar to run at optimum efficiency in my humble opinion.

3) The Wings fell back into telegraphing their post passes to Liz which led to turnovers. I saw several opportunities to use a bounce pass to get it into the All Star Center. It is a work in progress.

4) The Wings looked tired in their losses to Chicago and Connecticut. They were a half step slow on pick and rolls as the Sun got uncontested layup after layup.

5) Asking Cambage to play 38 minutes is asking too much of the 6’-8” Australian. She was clearly tired in the 3rd quarter as she trailed several plays and either Stricken or Jones ran the court for easy baskets.

6) The jury is still out on the Kaela Davis playing point guard experiment. Davis has spent her whole career playing forward. She gives the Wings a big back-up point guard, but she too has trouble chasing small, quick guards around on defense.

7) The Wings struggled from the three-point line going only 5-21 (23.8%). The Sun shot 10-20 (50%). The 15-point advantage from three was the difference in the final score.

8) It seems like team harmony was out of synch these last, two games. The team practices Monday and Tuesday before being off the rest of the week. They return July 31, at home, against the Chicago Sky.

Photo, Urban Sports News Wire