Dallas Wings Notebook: From Offensive Installs to Leadership Growth, Team Sharpens Focus Ahead of Opener
As the Dallas Wings continue their final week of training camp, Monday’s practice offered a detailed look into the evolving structure of the team’s offense. During the open portion of practice, the Wings worked extensively on installing their Ram Spain action and principles from their Spread offense, reinforcing pace, spacing, and execution.
Dallas opens the WNBA regular season against the Minnesota Lynx on Friday, May 16, adding weight to every practice as preparation time diminishes. Monday’s practice began with a sharp focus—players moved with purpose and played off each other in structured reps. However, as fatigue set in late in the session, head coach Chris Koclanes admitted that attention to detail had begun to slip.
“Every day we’re getting better,” Koclanes said. “We’re building chemistry, playing more with each other. We played a ton today. I liked how it was early, and then it started slipping late, just with some fatigue. We let fatigue creep in, and we got a little sloppy. So I’m challenging them to be able to uphold a standard throughout the duration of a practice.”
Dallas Wings Adding Layers Without Overloading
The Wings are still in the early stages of layering offensive options, with an emphasis on clarity and timing before expanding the playbook. The Ram-Spain sequences, which combine screen-the-screener and a back-screen in pick-and-roll, require players to read and react in real time.
“This group is high IQ, and I’ve been impressed that they’ve picked things up pretty quickly,” Koclanes said. “At the same time, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. Today, we had to take a pause for a second, clean up some things with the spacing and with the timing, before we can keep adding.”
The staff is looking to strike a balance between simplicity and adaptability, empowering players to flow within the structure while still creating matchup problems.
“We’ve got so much talent all over the floor that you have to pick and choose who you want to attack defensively,” Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Keeping it simple is enough, and then as teams get good with what’s simple, the more you can throw in wrinkles and try to distort the defensive shell. Whatever we can do to help our offense be able to create and get to space to be able to see the read and make the read.”
While the Wings’ ball movement and spacing have led to more paint points than perimeter attempts during preseason, Koclanes emphasized that offensive success isn’t measured in three-point volume.
“I’m not just out there telling them we need to get X amount of threes up,” he said. “I’m out there preaching that we need to get good shots. And that’s a shot that somebody’s capable of making, that is open, and that is shared.”
Versatility and Pace from the Frontcourt
A core part of the Wings’ spacing philosophy is that their bigs can initiate offense. Myisha Hines-Allen and NaLyssa Smith have been featured together in the frontcourt throughout preseason in small-ball lineups, giving the team versatility on both ends.
“They just make us faster,” Wings forward Kaila Charles told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Both of them can get the rebound, push, and start our offense. As you can see, Liz was getting down the court and we’re getting easy layups from her. And Maisha is just—she is just an athlete. As soon as she gets it, she can push, she can go all the way, she can find. The last couple of games, she’s been having five assists and four assists. So I think that just makes us faster, makes us more versatile.”
Koclanes agreed and elaborated on Hines-Allen’s offensive impact, praising her impact as a screener and willingness to make unselfish plays as a passer.
“You see it with her ability to facilitate from the perimeter,” he said. “When she’s in the middle of the floor, she’s a fantastic screener. And then when she has the ball in her hands and that floor is wide open, she’s a great passer. You see it on basket cuts. She’s just able to deliver it on time, on target. So it gives our offense a whole other level. We’ve got great guards that can attack and facilitate, and then you’ve got post players that can also do that. It makes you really hard to guard.”
On defense, having Smith and Hines-Allen together presents an ability to switch and pressure the ball. It’s an option that has sparked intrigue from the Dallas coaching staff as an option to deploy.
“Defensively, it’s the versatility piece,” Koclanes added. “It allows us to explore different things. You saw in that game—we looked at some switching, we got aggressive, and hedged and trapped. We can try different things and try to keep the offense off balance with different coverages. I enjoy having those options available.”
While the Wings have experimented with small-ball lineups, that does not reflect how Koclanes views the starting lineup entering the season. He has remained impressed by Teaira McCowan, whom he sees as an asset with untapped potential offensively, including as a jump shooter. She’s often been deployed near the nail in Spread offensive sets throughout training camp.
“I don’t want to put T in a box,” Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “She’s so good around the rim, and she’s really tough to guard down there. And I think she’s more skilled than, you know… stepping out to the perimeter, she can do a little bit out there. Her shot—she has great touch from 17 and in, hit a couple of threes today in practice. So again, like challenging her to get out there and expand her zone as well.”
Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers as Leaders
Much of the team’s offensive initiation comes from guards Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale, who are beginning to establish a complementary rhythm in practice and games.
“They’re learning how to run plays for each other,” Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Paige, you know, Arike needs the ball—let’s get it to her. What’s the action? How can we get it to her? And then the other way around, Arike deferring like, Paige, you got the matchup, you’re cooking right now, let’s get you into an action.”
Kaila Charles noted the dynamic is helping shape the Wings’ identity, praising Ogunbowale’s leadership as an established veteran entering her seventh season with the organization.
“Arike is our leader. This is her team,” Charles said. “It’s a lot of new people, but she’s been here for the last, what, seven years now. She’s always the voice that we’re looking to. It’s good to see her step into her leadership role. She’s a veteran… she knows what this team is capable of. And they go very well—she’s showing Paige the rope. Paige is showing respect, and they work very well together.”
Charles praised Bueckers for entering camp with poise and confidence, describing her leadership as a rookie and a rare growing comfort level for a young player.
“She came in very confident,” Charles told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “As a rookie, everything is new, but she knows what she brings to this team. She loves to share the ball, but she can get her own points. I think she’s done a great job of leading by example, even though she’s younger. She’s putting her voice behind that. Every day, I think I see her feel more comfortable, and I’m excited to see her growth and how she really steps into who she is.”
Koclanes echoed the sentiment and emphasized the team-wide approach to leadership, but he anticipates Bueckers’ leadership becoming more vocal as she gets settled throughout her rookie season.
“Everyone on this team is a leader, and I’m empowering them all to lead where they’re from and in their own ways,” he told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “As Paige gets more comfortable with her teammates and finds her voice, she’ll become more of a verbal leader. Right now, it’s a little more by example, maybe one-offs on the side. But I’m challenging one through 12 and empowering them all to lead each other and hold each other accountable.”
Competitive Spirit Taking Root
Aziaha James, one of the youngest players in camp, has shown early progress in adjusting to the pace and expectations of the WNBA.
“Just taking it day by day. Where my feet are is where I’m at,” James said. “I’m leaning on my vets and coaching staff to lead me, and they’ve been doing good, so I’ve been doing good as well.”
James said the biggest lessons have been staying true to herself and embracing her role through defense and energy. Coaches have praised her hard-nosed approach and attention to detail as she continues learning both ends of the floor.
“Just continuing to be confident in myself, be patient with myself, still motivate myself and my teammates, and just keep being that dog,” she told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “I got here being myself, so just keep being myself.”
When asked what she’s doing to earn trust and minutes, James didn’t hesitate. She understands it will be required to defend at a high level while being an offensive asset.
“Defense,” she said. “Defense is definitely the key to get you on the floor—getting rebounds and, you know, obviously putting the ball in the basket.”
And with her WNBA debut approaching?
“I’m happy. It’s a dream come true since I was a little girl,” James said. “I just can’t wait to feel them lights.”
Final Cuts and What’s Next
The Wings still need to reduce their roster from 13 players to 12 before Thursday’s cutdown deadline, but the emphasis remains on team identity and internal accountability for now.
“We’re just talking about who we are and who we want to be—the Dallas Wings, what our culture looks like,” Koclanes said. “So really challenging them to lead each other, have tough conversations, and then love each other as well. Find all that balance. It can be both—and it has to be, and it will be.”
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