Dallas Wings Check-In: Injuries Woes Could Pose Problems
The Wings opened the 2023 season with a win over Atlanta, but the team has a lot of injury concerns.
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The Dallas Wings opened the 2023 season with an 85-78 win over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday, led by three players—Natasha Howard, Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale—all scoring 20-plus points.
But what should have been a moment for celebration was really more a cause for concern, because the already-thin Wings lost Teaira McCowan just after the half to a knee injury.
As of now, there’s been no update about McCowan’s injury status. But the Wings will still need to prepare to be without her one way or the other—even if she doesn’t miss time from the injury she suffered on Saturday, she’ll be on her way overseas in June to play for Turkey in EuroBasket.
With Diamond DeShields and Lou Lopez Sénéchal set to miss a large part of the season as well, the Wings suddenly look like a very shallow team. That showed in Saturday’s win.
Ogunbowale played all but 1:22 of the game. Sabally and Howard both played 34 minutes. And the frontcourt depth was just not really there. Awak Kuier played 8:47 as the backup big, but the Wings without McCowan in the second half had to play pretty small. They closed the game with a lineup of Howard at the five and Sabally at the four, with Ogunbowale moving up to the three and Veronica Burton and Crystal Dangerfield in the backcourt.
That’s not an ideal lineup, and it makes sense that the fourth quarter was Dallas’ worst, as it was held to just 16 points. That closing lineup was the Wings’ most-used in the opener, and per WNBA.com, they had a -20.0 net rating during that span. Contrast that with the starting unit, which took Dangerfield out, sized everyone else up a spot and had McCowan at center. That lineup had a +26.2 net rating.
Already, we’re seeing how these injuries are hurting the Wings. With DeShields out, there’s not really a reliable backup wing to play the three behind Sabally. Ashley Joens and Maddy Siegrist both got a few minutes during the game, but it was pretty clear from their usage that this team doesn’t think they’re the answer for the backup three role. The answer to that seems to just be…rarely taking Sabally off the floor, and when they needed to move her to power forward in a small lineup, bringing two point/combo guards in and shifting Ogunbowale to the three spot. (Obviously, positional roles are a little more complex than that, since Ogunbowale will be on the ball more than Burton/Dangerfield when the three share the court.)
Another concern stemming from the depth issue: keeping Sabally healthy. The former Oregon product has never played more than 17 games in a season, and her highest minutes-per-game average was 28.1 back in 2020. Maybe Sabally will be healthy this season and this won’t be a problem But for a player with a fairly long injury history, I’m not sure you want her playing 34 minutes per night, even if she’s producing really well in those minutes.
But again, what do you do about that? Maybe the answer will involve more of those minutes with Arike plus two guards but with Sabally not at the four.
The Wings have two long-term injuries, which means that after the team’s second game, it’ll be eligible for a hardship contract:
With McCowan gone—whether from injury or EuroBasket—it would make sense for the team to sign a big. Maybe that’s Kalani Brown or Charli Collier, late cuts from the team’s roster. Maybe it’s someone else. But adding another body up front would allow the team to rest Sabally a little more instead of having to play her so much at the four.
So, those are the negatives after the season opener. Injury concerns. The McCowan situation. Relying a little too heavily on a small group of players. But let’s also look at the positives: the Arike/Sabally/Howard trio is really good.
Ogunbowale will probably always struggle a bit with efficiency—she’s never finished a season higher than the 34th percentile in field-goal percentage. She wasn’t very efficient in the opener, shooting 36% from the floor and 28.6% from three, but she made big shots when the team needed big shots. She might not be the most complete player in the world, but sometimes you just need someone who can go out there and hoop. Arike’s a hooper:
While she lost some steam in the second half, Ogunbowale was on fire in the first half, shooting 46.7% from the floor. The team was +17 during her minutes—they were also +17 total in the first half, because she didn’t leave the floor.
Meanwhile, Sabally shot 53.8% for the game and went 3-for-5 from deep. Her 3-point shooting was something I was really interested in tracking this year, because she’s shot just 26% from deep through the first 45 games of her WNBA career. But as I mentioned in my season preview, she shot 45.3% from behind the arc during her 18 games for Fenerbahçe this past season, something that seems like a good sign for her moving forward in the W. And while a one-game sample isn’t enough for us to say she’s answered questions about her shooting, it’s a good start.
Then there was Howard. Her shot was off as she went 7-for-21 from the floor, but she came up big in other ways with 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Howard’s versatility will be really beneficial for this team, and I also think her being a volume shooter is a good thing. Obviously, you want her shooting better than 33.3%, but as long as defenses know that she’s a threat to attack the basket any time the ball gets to her, they have to make sure they’re accounting for her, which eases some of the defensive pressure that Ogunbowale faces.
And that’s…that, really. With just one game under its belt, Dallas is still a mystery. The team looks good defensively and the offense will go as far as the Arike/Sabally/Howard trio will take it. It might not be until July when we really get to see what McCowan can do this season, but you could see her importance through what she did in the first half on Saturday. The Wings were +20 with her on the floor, the best plus/minus on the team. (Yes, single-game plus/minuses tend to be really noisy, but we’ve gotta go off what we’ve got to go off, you know?)
The Wings’ next game is on Friday when they visit the Seattle Storm. Tip-off for that one is at 10:00 p.m. ET, with ION set to air the game as part of its first Friday night doubleheader of the broadcasting campaign.
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Justin:
Greg Bibb is known for overstocking on his acquisitions and he -- on the surface level -- did so again at the Wing slot, with DeShields, Senechal, Meyers and Joens. Well, two of those are out. Joens hit a jumper when she was in and seemed to know her defensive assignments, so -- to me -- the coaching staff should see what she can for a bit of an extended time frame. Ditto, Siegrest.
If they want a defensive presence, they could take a look at Emily Engstler, who -- for some reason -- is not on a roster right now.
Bibb's got to have the courage of his convictions and play his draft choices a bit.
I'd make the same suggestion that Indiana should get Berger in the line-up. Might as well let her grow with the rest of the team.