DHJ Quick Take: Arike Ogunbowale Preaches Patience
- Dismissing the “Think Pieces”: Following practice on Saturday, Arike Ogunbowale pushed back on external noise surrounding the Wings’ 1-2 start. Pointing to the adjustment of blending a brand-new roster under a new coaching staff, she bluntly reminded critics that it is “literally only game three.”
- Film Room Positives: Rather than viewing Thursday’s tight 90-86 defeat to Minnesota as a step backward, Ogunbowale framed it as an invaluable teaching tool. Facing actions like the Spain pick-and-roll for the first time has provided Dallas with an early-season blueprint to build on.
- Standardizing Help Coverages: Defensive connectivity was a major theme of Saturday’s session. Ogunbowale noted that defensive hesitation has slowed down low-man rotations, emphasizing that the team spent practice establishing a “standardized response” to ensure everyone is on a string.
- Roster Depth as an Offensive Luxury: Reflecting on her 6-point night against the Lynx, the star guard admitted to settling for too many difficult looks. However, she emphasized that the Wings’ reconstructed bench depth means no individual player has to force heavily contested shots moving forward.
- Early Production Rhythm: Despite a tough shooting night Thursday, Ogunbowale’s scoring baseline remains a critical element for Dallas, as she enters the homestand finale averaging 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists through three games.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arike Ogunbowale is not concerned about the Dallas Wings‘ 1-2 start, and the guard made that clear after practice Saturday.
Asked how the team is handling early adversity, Ogunbowale pushed back on the outside scrutiny attached to three games with a new coach and a new roster.
“It’s just a little bit of adversity, like you said,” Ogunbowale said. “It’s literally only game three, so I know there’s a lot of think pieces and this, that and the third. New team, new coach, game three, and we only lost by a small margin, so we just have to keep getting better. There’s definitely a lot to learn from those losses, especially on the defensive end, just helping each other out more. But we’re going to be okay. Like I said, only game three. Get better. This practice was great. Add another practice on Sunday and get ready for Monday.”
Ogunbowale framed Thursday’s 90-86 home loss to the Minnesota Lynx as useful film rather than a setback. She said the range of looks Minnesota presented, including a Spain pick-and-roll the Wings had not defended before, gave the team something to draw on across the rest of the season.
“I don’t think we really went over it before,” Ogunbowale said. “So I love that this game happened because they gave us a lot of different looks that we can learn from in this one game. Like I said, it’s only game three. We have, what’s my math, we’ve got 41 left. So we take from what we learned this game and just get better. Glad we saw Spain action. Glad we saw high ball screens, having to trap, having to do this. This film can help for the rest of the season, so I’m happy about that. We just have to learn from our mistakes.”
Arike Ogunbowale Sees Areas to Fix Defensively
Regarding what the Wings can clean up, Ogunbowale pointed to their team defense. She said Dallas was getting beaten without enough help behind it, and that the fix is a more connected effort.
“Just better team defense,” Ogunbowale said. “I feel like we were getting beat and we weren’t helping each other out. So just team defense, walling up, helping the helper. Obviously, guarding your man, but the ball scores. So if your man’s far from the basket, you have to help your other teammate. So just a lot more help defense.”
Ogunbowale said communication is the root of it for a roster still learning one another. She wants a standardized response on coverages so there is no hesitation when an action develops.
“I think we were going back and forth a little bit on the defensive end about certain things,” Ogunbowale said. “So today, it’s a standard thing no matter what it is. We’re going to do the same thing. I think that clarity is important. But new team, new group. Teams who’ve been playing with each other forever know, ‘All right, this man’s rolling, this man.’ I think we’re still learning each other. But the conversation that we had, watching the whole film and then going through it in practice, I think we have more clarity of who’s going, who’s helping, who’s doing this. So I think we’ll be better for sure.”
Dallas Wings’ Depth Eases The Pressure On Offense
On the other end, Ogunbowale said the Wings’ depth means no one has to force the issue. She felt she settled for too many difficult shots against the Lynx after flowing easily in the season opener at Indiana.
“I think that’s why we have this deep, deep bench, that we don’t really have to have hard shots,” Ogunbowale said. “Personally, I feel like I had a lot of hard shots last game and, like the Indiana game, I was just able to flow. If somebody kicks it to me, knock it down. So definitely just getting back to moving it side to side. I feel like it was kind of sticking a little bit, but as a unit, we weren’t moving it. I don’t think anybody has to take hard shots, and I think that’s the beauty of having this roster, especially for me, not having to take hard shots, having great wings, great posts. We can just move it and always find the great shots. So I think if we stick to that, then we’ll be okay.”
Ogunbowale’s first three games track that contrast. She scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting in the season opener at Indiana, then 20 points on 7-of-15 against Atlanta, before finishing with 6 points on 2-of-11 in Thursday’s loss to the Lynx. She is averaging 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists through three games.
Up Next
The Wings close their three-game homestand Monday against the Washington Mystics at College Park Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on Peacock.
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