Dallas Wings Open Preseason With 95-80 Win Over Indiana Fever Behind Paige Bueckers, Maddy Siegrist Double-Double

INDIANAPOLIS — A 19-point differential in the second quarter flipped the night, six players reached or approached double figures, and the Dallas Wings opened the preseason with a 95-80 win over the Indiana Fever on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers poured in 20 points before halftime on 8-for-12 shooting and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, finishing in just over 20 minutes. Maddy Siegrist put together an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double that included a one-legged jumper in the paint and a steady diet of off-ball cuts. Aziaha James chipped in 17 points off the bench while leading Dallas in steals (4) and plus-minus (plus-19) over a team-high 31 minutes.

Six Wings reached at least 8 points. Indiana, by contrast, leaned almost entirely on Caitlin Clark for offense, with the second-year star scoring a game-high 21 points, 14 of them in the first quarter alone. The contrast in scoring distribution was the structural story of the night. Indiana was held to shooting 40.0% from the floor and 17.4% shooting from beyond the arc.

Dallas finished the night shooting 51.4% from the field, 34.8% from 3, and 88.2% from the line. The Wings dominated the paint 50-30, won fast-break points 21-9, took the second-chance battle 13-4, and finished plus-19 on the glass at 45-26. Indiana attempted 42 free throws but converted just 66.7%.

“It’s about doing the one-percenters every time, hitting bodies, boxing out, crashing, and not taking plays off,” Alanna Smith told Dallas Hoops Journal at Thursday morning’s shootaround. “When the shot goes up, it’s still live. So it’s just focusing on staying locked in for the entire possession.”

The Wings worked through the night without six players. Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, Awak Kuier, and Costanza Verona were all out as they continued through overseas commitments. Rookie guard JJ Quinerly remained sidelined following October knee surgery, and forward Rayah Marshall was in concussion protocol. The thinned-down lineup put a premium on the bench, with Lindsay Allen logging her preseason debut after carrying a probable tag for a right hamstring designation, three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark making her Wings debut, and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu seeing her first action with the team after winning a Serbian Cup with Crvena Zvezda.

Indiana was missing key pieces of its own. The Fever played without All-Star center Aliyah Boston (lower leg), Lexie Hull (hamstring), Justine Pissott (lower leg), and former Wings guard Tyasha Harris (knee). Boston’s absence in particular reshaped the matchup, leaving Indiana without its primary interior anchor against a Wings frontcourt that finished with 50 paint points and a 19-rebound advantage.

Indiana Fever Strike First, Caitlin Clark in Attack Mode

Through the opening 10 minutes, Indiana looked like the team in control of the momentum. Clark scored 14 points in the first quarter alone, attacking downhill without resistance and finding open looks from beyond the arc when Dallas left her with enough daylight to confidently get her shot off. The Fever pushed out to a 29-25 lead, and the Wings spent the period trying to settle into the offensive concepts head coach Jose Fernandez had emphasized at shootaround.

“How we play with the pace I want to play at is important. We need to make sure our offensive spacing is good, how we’re valuing the ball and taking care of it, and how we’re playing out of different actions, what’s happening after those actions,” Fernandez told Dallas Hoops Journal.

The actions were there. Dallas ran a simple offense, often leveraging handoffs and off-ball screening to generate movement, with Fernandez intentionally keeping the team’s installs basic for Game 1 of the preseason.

“We kept things pretty simple today, only running three or four actions, but that’ll change next week,” Fernandez told Dallas Hoops Journal. “The ball has to move side to side more, and we’ve got to make better decisions in certain situations.”

The Wings head coach also outlined the offensive identity he wants the team building toward. The underlying theme is a collective unselfishness that can be built upon as this group’s chemistry grows. The decision-making will improve with time.

“This team likes to share the ball, and if we can play fast, get rim runs and wing sprints, we can be very good,” Fernandez said. “Then it’s about half-court efficiency, getting into the paint, and making the right reads.”

Bueckers articulated the same offensive vision in language that mirrored her head coach almost beat for beat. The way she sees it, the Wings want to play fast when there are chances to push the ball, but in the half-court, the group wants to generate side-to-side movement through pick-and-roll and off-ball actions.

“We want to be a transition team, with guards running the wings and posts rim running,” Bueckers said. “That creates easy opportunities and assists. In the half court, we want side-to-side movement, playing through pick-and-rolls and off-ball actions. That makes the defense work and opens up more playmaking opportunities.”

The challenge in the opening period was that Indiana’s ball pressure forced turnovers and prevented the Wings from settling into even those few actions. The defensive end was equally uneven early. Clark was getting downhill against straight-line drives, and her two first-quarter 3-point makes both came in moments where help-side rotation arrived a beat late.

A Statement Second Quarter Decides It

The Wings opened the second on a 13-2 run that flipped the game to a 38-31 lead and forced an Indiana timeout with 7:54 to go in the half. James generated 5 of those points, and Bueckers and Siegrist each connected from beyond the arc. Out of the timeout, Dallas rolled into another 15-5 run, pushing the lead to 53-36 before Indiana managed an 8-2 closing run to make halftime 61-46. The Wings led by as many as 23 points during the surge.

The shooting splits over the 10-minute frame were lopsided. Dallas hit 72.2% of its field goals while Indiana managed just 21.4%. The Wings outscored the Fever 36-17 over the period, the avalanche that proved to be the difference.

What turned the second quarter was, more than anything, a clear cause-and-effect chain that Bueckers laid out, emphasizing getting out in transition for easy finishes and 3-point attempts. Keeping turnovers down played a key role after a challenging start in that department.

“I think we got out in transition a lot, easy baskets running the floor, getting layups, and wide-open threes,” Bueckers said. “We took better care of the ball. We were pretty sloppy early, starting with me in the first quarter, but we cleaned it up and got shots on goal. That always helps.”

She extended the read into the broader connection between defense and offense. Dallas found its best success when it did not send the Fever to the free-throw line.

“Getting stops and not sending them to the free-throw line allows us to play faster. It’s harder to run off made baskets, so it starts with our defense and leads into our offense,” Bueckers said. “I thought we did a good job of that in the second quarter.”

Bueckers’s connection with Smith, and her general ability to get her shot off, stood out. Indiana spent significant possessions playing up in pick-and-roll coverage, an explicit acknowledgment of the threat Smith poses as a stretch big. The Fever’s high coverage created driving lanes for Bueckers and her teammates straight into the paint, where the Wings outscored Indiana 50-30 across the four quarters.

“Alanna does a really good job of screening, hitting bodies, and creating space and separation,” Bueckers told Dallas Hoops Journal. “She’s a threat finishing and from the 3-point line, so that helps. My teammates set great screens, and our guards do a great job getting me open and setting the tone for how aggressive we want to be. It’s really a testament to my teammates helping me get those looks.”

Smith finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and a team-high 5 assists in just over 19 minutes, a stat line that undersold the gravitational pull her shooting threat exerted on Indiana’s coverages.

The 3-Point Volume Is Strategic

The Wings attempted 23 3-pointers Thursday, the same number Indiana attempted, but they made 8 of them. Dallas collectively has plenty of potential to take more 3-point attempts. However, Bueckers managed to achieve it individually. This has remained an area of emphasis for her and the coaching staff.

“We want to get more threes up, that’s been an emphasis,” Bueckers said. “It provides better spacing and makes it easier to get to the rim because we’re tougher to guard. Coach does a great job with misdirection, pin-downs, and constant action. That leads to open threes and transition opportunities. We’ve all been given the green light to be aggressive from three.”

The misdirection-and-pin-downs framing Bueckers offered matched the simple-actions framing Fernandez had described. The team is running a small-ball concept set early in the preseason, but the structure is built to create open looks beyond the arc, and Bueckers’s 4-for-6 from 3 was the cleanest individual return on it.

A Frontcourt That Owned the Glass

Dallas’s 45-26 rebounding edge was the on-court expression of the messaging Fernandez and Smith had carried into the game. Siegrist’s 11 boards anchored the effort, with two on the offensive glass. Li Yueru, the 6-foot-7 center making the most of her bench minutes, pulled down 8 rebounds (5 offensive) along with 8 points in less than 12 minutes. Fankam Mendjiadeu added 8 points on 4-for-7 shooting and 3 rebounds in just under 12 minutes in her Wings debut.

“Every night, I’m trying to get transition and offensive rebounds. Extra possessions separate teams,” Siegrist said. “My teammates do a great job moving the ball, and I just try to read the floor. I’m a little undersized, so I have to be active.”

She also captured the conditioning angle that ran through the night. Siegrist felt it helped her maximize her already well-established rebounding instincts. She emphasized the need to limit the opponent to at most one shot each trip down the floor and wants to be a key factor in that effort.

“I think this is the strongest I’ve been,” Siegrist said. “I’ve always had a knack for offensive rebounding, just chasing the ball. Defensively, we need to be one-and-done every time.”

The “one-and-done” language Siegrist used postgame echoed Smith’s “one-percenters” framing from shootaround. The 13-4 second-chance points margin was the result on the scoreboard.

Fernandez framed the rebounding effort in terms of volume and conversion. Dallas stopped turning the ball over in the second quarter, which allowed the group to play to its identity of playing fast while also having more rhythm with proper spacing in the half-court.

“We missed 34 shots and got 12 offensive rebounds,” Fernandez said. “The second quarter stood out because we didn’t turn the ball over and we converted shots. We want to play fast, but with pace and space, we rushed too much at times and turned it over in our own backcourt. That has to improve.”

Yueru’s interior work showed flashes of her finishing along with areas for growth. Dallas worked the ball inside to her throughout the night. She converted multiple paint touches but also held the ball longer than Fernandez wanted on others, a coaching point he made directly postgame.

“She’s got to catch it and make a quick move,” Fernandez said. “We tried to isolate her in spots where she could pivot and face, but sometimes she held it too long and allowed the defense to react. Those will be teaching points for us and for her.”

Siegrist’s offensive game was as much about movement as it was about physicality. She generated paint scores through off-ball cuts, including a one-legged jumper that captured the fluidity of her finishing arsenal. Fernandez noted there is still volume room to grow in her game.

“For Maddy, she’s got to be a little more aggressive from three, especially in pick-and-pop situations,” Fernandez said. “There were a lot of good things, but also a lot we need to clean up before the regular season.”

A Conditioning Story Across the Roster

A theme threaded through every postgame Wings voice: the team came into camp visibly stronger.

Bueckers extended the framing further than any teammate. The group as a whole has spent a lot of time in the weight room and has stayed disciplined throughout training camp.

“As a group, we take pride in the little details. A lot of the work is behind the scenes, in the weight room and training room,” Bueckers said. “You can see it in Aziaha’s game and in Maddy’s rebounding. We take pride in that physicality. Even after the game, we had the whole team in the weight room putting in extra work. That’s our focus, we’ve been really disciplined with it.”

She also pointed to Unrivaled, the new offseason 3-on-3 league, as a driver of development.

“Unrivaled was a great experience for all of us. Playing 3-on-3 full court forces you to defend and create more,” Bueckers said. “You learn from veterans and improve how you take care of your body.”

James, speaking on her own offseason work, picked up the same thread. She’s frequently mentioned in training camp that she emphasized getting stronger so she would stop “getting pushed around.” Based on what she did to the Fever, the benefits have gone much further, and she will be on the opposite end of those sequences by pushing defenders around when she’s attacking downhill.

“I focused on getting stronger this offseason and contributing more,” James said. “We have a lot of scorers, but energy is something every team needs. That’s something I want to bring consistently.”

Siegrist’s “this is the strongest I’ve been” comment fit right alongside what veteran Grace Berger had previewed the same theme pregame. Dallas now has a defensive anchor in Smith, allowing the rest of the unit to be as aggressive as possible by leveraging that strength when pressuring the ball.

“A lot of players came back stronger and in better shape than last year,” Berger told Dallas Hoops Journal. “We also have great shot blockers. Having someone like Alanna Smith behind you, she’s one of the best in the league, gives guards confidence to pressure the ball more. You can be more aggressive knowing you have that kind of protection behind you.”

The on-court translation showed up most clearly in James’s drives through contact and Siegrist’s offensive-rebounding motor. Sometimes it helps to put size on the court, too. It took some pressure off the group physically by turning to Yueru in different lineups, who produced 8 points and 8 rebounds in less than 12 minutes. For a team that has Shepard and Kuier still on the way, they will have plenty of options to utilize.

Aziaha James Shines Off the Bench

The 17-point night James produced from the bench was the most consequential individual performance not named Bueckers or Siegrist. The second-year guard out of NC State played 31 minutes, the most of any Wings player, and converted that workload into 7-for-7 free-throw shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a team-high 4 steals.

What made James’s night sustainable was her willingness to finish through contact. She was aggressive, attacking the rim, lowering her shoulder, drawing fouls when she got there, and converting every trip to the line. Her 4 steals tied the game-high. Her plus-19 was the team’s best mark.

“Just letting the game come to me, sharing the ball, showing love to everyone,” James said. “Tonight was my night to get buckets, so I leaned on my teammates to help me.”

Fernandez offered an analytical read on what changed for James from her rookie year to her second season. It’s been a theme throughout camp that James’s creativity with the basketball shines when she has the space to attack, whether in the half-court or transition. There was no better example of her creativity than her behind-the-back into a reverse layup in the fourth quarter. Coupled with her physicality on drives, all of these factors contribute to Dallas expecting a Year 2 leap.

“Aziaha in space, I thought the big thing for her, going from year one to year two, is creating off the bounce,” Fernandez said. “Getting out in the open floor, putting her in actions where she can attack in pick-and-roll situations, that’s key.”

That James led Dallas in minutes by a wide margin (Siegrist was second at 29 minutes) was an operational decision that fit Fernandez’s preseason philosophy. Bueckers (20 minutes), Smith (19 minutes), and Azzi Fudd (16 minutes) all came in under 21 minutes by design. Clark played just 7 minutes in her Wings preseason debut. Fernandez had been clear that he was conscious of minutes management with Sunday’s preseason finale ahead and the May 9 regular-season opener approaching.

“I wanted to make sure we distributed minutes well with Azzi, Paige, and Alanna, keeping them under 20, and we did that,” Fernandez said. “It gave a lot of people an opportunity to play with a comfortable lead.”

James, Siegrist, and Sims combined for 76 minutes of action and produced 44 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists, and 6 steals while finishing a combined plus-49. Each of them contributed in ways that show they can be factors for this team when needed throughout the season.

Odyssey Sims Returns to Indianapolis With a Tidy Stat Line

Odyssey Sims opened the night in the Wings’ starting lineup against the team she had helped reach the WNBA Semifinals last postseason. The veteran guard finished 4-for-4 from the field for 9 points, added 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal, and posted a plus-18 mark over just under 15 minutes despite picking up 3 fouls.

While last season was a success in Indiana, Sims told Dallas Hoops Journal before the game that it was an example of how her career trajectory speaks for itself, but she’s happy to be in Dallas.

“I feel like every team I go to, I leave a lasting impression. I try to have an immediate impact, that’s kind of been my thing the last few years,” Sims told Dallas Hoops Journal. “My time in Indiana was great. The fans are amazing. But I’m glad to be back home.”

She also offered an early read on what the Wings group could become as the rotation becomes whole. She praised what she’s seen in training camp and envisions this team being successful.

“I’ve played with a few people who’ve been on Dallas before, but we still don’t have our full team yet. The group that’s been in training camp has done exceptionally well,” Sims told Dallas Hoops Journal. “We’re still learning each other, learning how to play together. Once we get our full team and continue to build chemistry through the early, middle, and late parts of the season, I think we’re going to be good. I expect a lot of wins this year. It’s going to be fun, and I’m excited to be part of it.”

Her on-court delivery matched the prediction. Sims served as a rim pressure threat alongside James, finishing through contact on multiple drives while also creating clean looks for teammates as a connector in the half-court.

Sims, who has spoken about the WNBA’s 30th anniversary as a recurring theme this year, also shared her motivation before tip-off. She believes she has many years left to play at a high level and is motivated to make the most of her potential.

“I’ve been really motivated and determined not to give up. I have a 6-year-old son, and I take that into consideration. I want him to be proud of me. That’s my drive and my will to keep going,” Sims told Dallas Hoops Journal. “I know I still have years left in this league, and I want to keep playing as long as I can while taking care of my body. I’m just happy to still be a part of it, especially in the league’s 30th year.”

The Wings are likely to increase her minutes on Sunday in their preseason finale as they tighten the rotation to eight or nine players. Fernandez views Sims as one of the likely beneficiaries of this change and praised how enjoyable she’s been to coach.

“She’s been a pleasure to coach. We probably could’ve played her more tonight, but we wanted to look at other players too,” Fernandez said. “Odyssey is a veteran, and we’ll likely increase her minutes on Sunday as we tighten the rotation with our top eight or nine.”

Sims’s plan for handling Indiana’s backcourt going into the game also paid off. Kelsey Mitchell finished 4-for-12 from the field for 10 points and posted a minus-18, the lowest plus-minus on either team. Her 0-for-4 night from beyond the arc contributed to Indiana’s 4-for-23 team performance.

“When you think of Indiana, you think of Kelsey Mitchell, one of the fastest players in the league. You have to make sure she sees bodies, especially one-on-one, because she’s tough to guard,” Sims told Dallas Hoops Journal.

Indiana’s Offense Goes Cold After Clark’s First-Quarter Burst

Clark’s 14-point first quarter looked like the start of a Hall-of-Fame outing. The rest of her night did not. After Dallas tightened up its perimeter defense and started getting bodies on Indiana’s drivers, Clark’s downhill attacks dried up. She finished with 21 points, but 11 of those came from the free-throw line on 13 attempts. Her field-goal damage was limited to 4-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, with most of the volume confined to the opening period before Dallas’s defensive structure stabilized.

The collapse around her was nearly total. Indiana shot 17.4% from 3 (4-for-23). Damiris Dantas went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc and finished with 7 points and 5 rebounds despite the cold spell. Sophie Cunningham, the Fever’s starter at small forward, went scoreless on no field-goal attempts in 14 minutes and posted a team-low minus-16. Mitchell’s 0-for-4 from 3 capped off the team-wide outside shooting struggles. Kayana Traylor was Indiana’s only meaningfully efficient outside shooter, hitting 2-for-3 from beyond the arc in 11 bench minutes for 8 points and a plus-8 mark.

Makayla Timpson added 11 points off the bench on 3-for-4 shooting, and Raven Johnson posted 5 assists and 5 steals over 21 minutes, but the offense Indiana required to keep pace with Dallas’s depth never materialized after the opening 10 minutes.

The free-throw discrepancy is its own story. Indiana shot 42 free throws to the Wings’ 17, a 25-attempt gap that traced largely to Clark and Mitchell drawing trips into the lane. The Fever converted only 28 of those 42 attempts (66.7%), which kept Dallas’s lead from being eroded. The 22 Wings turnovers led to 21 Indiana points, an additional offset that should have made the night closer than the final 95-80 margin suggested. Dallas, sent to the line just 17 times, converted at 88.2%, with James’s 7-for-7 anchoring the team-wide efficiency.

Azzi Fudd’s Debut: ‘I’m Going to Stop Fouling’

Fudd’s first WNBA game produced the kind of foul trouble that the No. 1 overall pick had perhaps not envisioned but immediately identified afterward. The UConn product finished with 4 points on 2-for-7 shooting, 0-for-2 from 3, and picked up 3 fouls in 16 minutes.

“She picked up three fouls, but she’ll be fine,” Fernandez said of Fudd’s debut. “We tried to get her involved with flares and pin-downs. I liked her aggressiveness off the bounce—she had one that went in and out. It’s good to get that first game under her belt and move forward.”

The first foul came early on a 3-point shooter. The second arrived before the second quarter began, and a third hit early in the second period, limiting her first-half action to 8 minutes. She ended up playing another 8 minutes after halftime and did not foul again.

“That I’m going to stop fouling,” Fudd told Dallas Hoops Journal when asked her main takeaway from the night.

By going through training camp, Fudd already saw firsthand the differences in the players at the professional level. While the competition is now bigger, faster, and stronger, Fudd sees the greatest difference as the players’ IQ. Opposing players will find advantages through savvy in ways you don’t see in college basketball.

“Everyone on the court is talented, smart, and strong. The physicality, pace, and speed are all different from college,” Fudd told Dallas Hoops Journal. “The biggest thing is the IQ. You have to be locked in every possession. You can’t take an offensive or defensive possession off, and that’s something that’s really stood out.”

Going into the game, Fudd was excited for what was to come. She was looking forward to putting everything the team has done in training camp together against outside competition for the first time. Now, she will have actual game film to study against a WNBA opponent when she gets back on the court to put in reps and to prepare for her next opponent.

“Everything,” Fudd told Dallas Hoops Journal. “We’ve been practicing for almost two weeks, so just getting the chance to put everything we’ve been working on to the test is exciting. I want to see how it all translates, both what the team has been working on and what I’ve been working on individually.”

Perhaps most impressive was Fudd’s postgame self-assessment, which also extended into the team-wide areas that can be cleaned up, similar to how Fernandez and her teammates laid it out. Her message emphasized putting together a cleaner performance from the start of the game by cutting down on live-ball turnovers and limiting fouls. She sees an opportunity for the Wings to execute help-side defense better.

“Taking care of the ball, obviously limiting turnovers. We had a lot of live-ball turnovers, and they got a lot of points off of that. Also, limiting fouls and starting the game with better help-side defense,” Fudd told Dallas Hoops Journal. “We started pretty poorly in that area, but it got a lot better as the game went on. It’s about starting that way from the beginning.”

She closed with what was working when Dallas was at its best. She emphasized that the Wings played their best basketball when they were connected defensively, pushed the ball after defensive stops, and limited turnovers, allowing the offense to flow.

“When our defense was connected, and we had help-side coverage, it helped us get stops, push the ball, and build momentum,” Fudd told Dallas Hoops Journal. “When we weren’t turning the ball over or getting called for offensive fouls, our offense was flowing, the ball was moving, and we were getting great shots and the looks we wanted.”

There is a natural level of pressure any player feels when playing their first game, whether it’s in the preseason or the regular season. Bueckers shared her message with rookies like Fudd, who were set to play their first-ever WNBA game, encouraging them to “be yourself.”

“Just instilling confidence. Reminding them that this is what they’ve been doing their whole lives, you’re living out your dream,” Bueckers told Dallas Hoops Journal of her message to the rookies. “Don’t overthink it. Be yourself, be aggressive, and trust what got you here. Just go out and play your game.”

Fudd’s analytical postgame voice was striking for a rookie in her debut — she was already processing in real time what the team needed, rather than focused only on her own line. Sunday’s preseason finale at the Moody Center against the Las Vegas Aces offers a window to make fixes before the regular season.

A Bench Audition Across the Board

Beyond James’s 31-minute showcase, Wings reserves contributed across the rotation in ways that mattered for roster evaluation. Going into the game, the coaching staff intended to limit the playing time of key starters after three minutes of the third quarter. Fernandez used the third and fourth quarters to extend looks at the players competing for roster spots and rotation roles.

Berger logged 14 minutes off the bench and contributed 3 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and a made 3-pointer on 2 attempts while finishing plus-6. Her low-mistake game (0 turnovers, 0 fouls) reflected the kind of supporting role she had described pregame.

“It’s about getting to know the coaching staff and the system. We have a completely new staff this year, so the schemes and concepts are different on both ends of the floor,” Berger told Dallas Hoops Journal. “It’s also about building chemistry with new teammates, rookies and free agents, and figuring out where you fit and what your role is.”

Allen made her preseason debut after carrying a probable tag with a right hamstring designation into the night. The veteran point guard played 14 minutes, contributing 3 points and 2 assists while finishing minus-5. The minus-5 reflected the timing of her appearance more than her play, with Allen logging time during stretches when Indiana ran its bench harder.

Clark played 7 minutes and, while she did not score, pulled down 3 rebounds, dished out an assist, and grabbed 2 steals, posting a plus-5. Amy Okonkwo played 10 minutes and went 0-for-2 from the field with 2 rebounds and a steal in roster-bubble audition minutes.

Chemistry, Cleanup, and a Shared Diagnosis

Both Fernandez and his star player publicly diagnosed the night’s mistakes the same way. It speaks to the standard the Wings are building, prioritizing the process over being satisfied with the result. Dallas shot the ball exceptionally well, but when nights like that don’t occur, the margins matter a lot.

“To win by 15 with 22 turnovers and give up 42 free throws, that’s something we have to clean up,” Bueckers said. “We can still do a lot better.”

Siegrist offered a teammate’s read on what produced the turnovers. Naturally, after playing just a single preseason game, the Wings are in the early days of building chemistry. However, Indiana’s aggressive on-ball defense did provide a helpful initial test.

“Chemistry. We’ve only been playing together for about a week, so that’s something you kind of forget at times. Some of it was their defense, they did a good job, but a lot of it was unforced,” Siegrist said. “Those are things we can clean up going into the next game.”

Fernandez’s read on the foul trouble was specific and tactical. The Wings must improve at containing dribble penetration and trusting in their teammates’ help defense. Making the opposition shoot over length after facing resistance is key.

“We just fouled and fouled and fouled, we’ve got to be better at that,” Fernandez said. “Offensively, I’m not concerned with how we shared the ball. But the two areas of concern are keeping the ball in front of us on straight-line drives, we’re overextending, and we’ve got to do a better job trusting our help defense. Individually, we need to wall up and make people shoot over us.”

Fernandez emphasized execution within his coverages as the measure of defensive success in the preseason.

“Multiple efforts, helping outside the lane, and executing in pick-and-roll defense, our coverages,” Fernandez said. “Film will tell us a lot about that.”

The most striking thing about the postgame conversation was the consistency of voice. Fernandez identified turnovers, free throws given up, straight-line drive containment, and help-side trust. Bueckers identified turnovers, free throws given up, defensive connection, and help-side coverage. Siegrist identified chemistry-driven turnovers and one-and-done defensive expectations. Fudd identified turnovers, fouls, and help-side defense. They were all aligned with impressive message discipline for a team that started practicing together on April 19.

While winning is always a goal, Fernandez was honest about how close the team is to playing 40 minutes of its defensive identity. He sees plenty of room for improvement. However, that’s also to be expected from a team playing its first game together.

“We’re a long way from it. But the good thing is the group understands our standard and habits,” Fernandez said. “You’re never going to question their effort. A lot of what we did tonight is fixable, so we’re looking forward to addressing it.”

The 15-point win was the surface-level takeaway. The 22 turnovers, 42 free throws given up, and the missing pieces were the reasons Fernandez was eager to start watching film with his players. Focusing on the details will add up over the long haul, and that’s what makes teams win at a high level.

“This league is too good to just outscore people,” Fernandez said. “You’ve got to get stops and defend without fouling. Even with a quick turnaround, those are things we have to fix before May 9.”

Outside of the decisive 36-17 second quarter, the Wings were outscored 34-34 across the other three frames combined. The result was a win. The work isn’t done.

Up Next

The Wings host the Aces in their preseason finale Sunday at 6 p.m. CT at the Moody Center in Austin, with national coverage on ION. Dallas opens the regular season on May 9 in Indianapolis against the Fever, a rematch of Thursday night’s preseason game.

More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal

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• ‘The Goal Is To Win’: Alanna Smith, Jose Fernandez Preview Dallas Wings’ Preseason Opener At Indiana Fever
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