Arike Ogunbowale Makes Locker Room Confession Around Paige Bueckers’ Injury After Dallas Wings’ 7th WNBA Loss

The Dallas Wings are a long way from “You’ll wanna tune into us no matter who we’re playing.” That was Arike Ogunbowale, hopeful of the new season after Curt Miller came in with a new look for the franchise. Little would they have imagined Chris Koclane receiving endless heat, Paige Bueckers on the injury report, and a scorecard reading league-worst 1-7. But while the spectators are turning away, the veteran guard is making one thing clear— that pre-season optimism is here to stay.

Last week’s matchup against the Chicago Sky proved twice as unlucky for Chris Koclanes. Already down 1-5 there, only worse news followed the franchise. First, their No.1 pick was put on concussion protocol, and then, their backup point guard, Tyasha Harris, went on the injury report. Needless to say, that did not fare well for the team– a 7th 83-77 loss to the Seattle Storm. But Ogunbowale isn’t hitting the panic station just yet. 

“We’re still figuring it out. We’re still early,” the star guard began during the post-game interview. “Obviously, we’ve been without a true point guard for the last two games. So hopefully we’re gonna get Paige back, and we get a little bit of rhythm. But yeah, we’re figuring it out.”

Well, the six-foot-tall guard is as rare as they come! Paige Bueckers is a true pass-first point guard, and the Dallas offense largely relies on her. Even though their orchestra has All-Star caliber players like Arike Ogunbowale and DiJonai Carrington, the UConn alum is the conductor. She was averaging second-team-best 14.7 points while leading in assists at 6.7. Before her injury, Dallas was just starting to get into the groove of winning. They had bested the Connecticut Sun and played a relatively close game against Chicago. But without her? It was back to square one. 

And just when you thought Harris would step in with her 2.5 assist average — trailing only Bueckers and Ogunbowale — the 5-year veteran was ruled out. So the team suffered. They managed 18 assists against the Storm, shot 25% from the three, and Arike failed to show up like her usual. She ended up shooting 4-15 from the field, and only put up 8 points–a far cry from her usual average of 17ppg or more. The five-foot-eight guard is known for her explosive scoring, but in times of trouble, she was looking to adapt her game to the needs of her team. After all, Dallas cannot afford to be dependent on one player, and Ogunbowale isn’t shying away from admitting it. 

“It’s tough not having a point guard,” she added. ‘But at the end of the day, we’ve got to figure it out. We can’t sit and wait around. We’re just trying to pick up the slack, me and Dijonai, tryna see who takes the ball down and figure it out.” Even without a true facilitator, we could see the effort the two guards were actually putting in.

Carrington, to her credit, took on the challenge of stuffing the stat sheet. The five-foot-eleven guard ended up with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, showing exactly why she won the MIP award last year. However, even with her efforts, Dallas couldn’t muster a win.

But aside from Bueckers’ injury, where is the team lacking? Why are the Dallas Wings not able to convert leads into wins? Let’s find out!

One crucial statistic is keeping Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings from winning

With Paige Bueckers on board, the Dallas Wings are really close to figuring it all out. Their losses this year haven’t been resounding, and their offense has looked quite dynamic and fluent. However, they’re lacking in arguably the most important part of championship basketball. What is that, you might ask? Well, they can’t hang around in the clutch!

The WNBA defines the clutch as a game within five points with less than five minutes left on the board. And in the case of the Dallas Wings, they’ve been faced with 5 clutch situations so far and the results haven’t been great. 

May 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale (24) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Fever at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Koclanes’ team is only averaging about 3.2 points in that window according to fansided.com. Their shooting averages also fall quite drastically to about 22%, showcasing how Paige Bueckers and her squad are unable to convert leads into wins so far. 

If they improve their finishing and shooting under pressure situations, the Wings might be able to catch a rhythm of winning. Moreover, if they had managed to perform in the clutch in the five opportunities they’ve had so far, Dallas would boast a record of 6-2 instead of the 1-7 they are right now. 

As we can see, Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings are quite close to stumbling upon the recipe for success. They’re slowly becoming a more cohesive and strong unit, and we can expect to see some great things from the franchise soon enough! But for now, all eyes are on Bueckers and her concussion recovery. How long will Dallas have to play on without her? Will she be back for the next game? Only time will tell.

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