Paige Bueckers will get double-double in return to Minnesota, however losses pile up for Dallas Wings

MINNEAPOLIS — Lower than a minute remained on the clock as Paige Bueckers held the ball in her palms in an all-too-familiar enviornment. Within the third WNBA recreation of her budding skilled profession, Bueckers was taking pictures and dribbling in a venue that she performed in as a excessive schooler and faculty athlete. Her star was born lower than 10 miles from the Goal Heart in St. Louis Park and Hopkins Excessive Faculty. She is aware of how the ball bounces on this flooring and she or he is intimately conversant in how the cheers and boos echo off the partitions right here.

As her Dallas Wings trailed by 5 factors, Bueckers pivoted and pulled the ball over to her left facet and began her dribble. She dashed round a display screen, and all of a sudden three Minnesota Lynx defenders had their eyes locked on her. In a good recreation like this, few would have blamed the rookie for going for glory whereas enjoying in entrance of numerous family and friends had Bueckers opted to pull-up for an extended shot or pushed into the enamel of the protection.

However Bueckers, the No. 1 total choose on this 12 months’s WNBA Draft out of UConn, is a lot smarter than that. She could also be simply three video games into her skilled profession, and she or he might solely be 23 years outdated, however the 6-foot Minnesota native sees the sport like a seasoned veteran. And so, she had two selections. Myisha Hines-Allen was rolling to the rim and appeared to have a brief head begin on Napheesa Collier — who briefly let Hines-Allen go to chop off a driving lane for Bueckers — or she may may dish it to Arike Ogunbowale, who was broad open in 3-point land only a few toes away. Slightly than problem Collier, the reigning Defensive Participant of the Yr, Bueckers fed her backcourt mate.

Ogunbowale caught the cross, gathered and fired in a seemingly single fluid movement and the ball fell harmlessly via the web. A collection on the alternative facet of the sector, full of Bueckers’ household and associates clad in Wings’ gear, roared.

Dallas now trailed by simply two factors with 39.1 seconds left. A victory appeared inside attain.

“Simply me having the ball in my palms a bit of bit extra, making an attempt to create performs for my teammates, for myself, and simply studying what the protection is giving,” Bueckers mentioned after the sport. “Plenty of instances, we’re simply making the appropriate play as a group, so no matter that proper play appears like on that possession, that’s what we’re seeking to do.”

Alas, Collier sank two free throws to place the sport on ice for the Lynx of their home-opener, profitable 85-81. However Bueckers’ dime within the last minute of the competition was vital as a result of it secured her first double-double as knowledgeable, giving her 10 assists and 12 factors in her homecoming recreation.

“It’s loopy to say I performed on this flooring in any respect three ranges… I’ve by no means let Minnesota go,” Bueckers mentioned. “However truthfully, if I’m being actual, I’m not fascinated by that in any respect after I’m on the market enjoying, I’m simply being within the current second.”

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It’s one of many first main milestones Bueckers has reached in her promising profession, and one she’ll probably bear in mind for some time.

“You attempt to put every little thing into perspective. To see all of the little ladies and folks within the stands and notice, that was you, like 10 or 15 years in the past,” Bueckers mentioned. “So, you by no means take it without any consideration, how blessed we’re to have the ability to play on this league, to play at this degree and to be on this group. Simply extraordinarily grateful, and also you attempt to replicate that each single time you play with the eagerness and pleasure and coronary heart that you just play with. So, you’re taking it and also you carry it with you wherever you go.”

Those that know Bueckers greatest although all agree on a minimum of one factor: This isn’t a participant that’s all that involved with particular person statistics, honors or accolades. She needs to win, and she or he needs to win typically, and she or he needs to win on the highest degree. It’s why few people ever noticed her happier than when she was chopping down a internet in Tampa, Florida, a couple of month in the past after main UConn to a nationwide championship. It’s why when Geno Auriemma subbed her off for the ground for the final time in her last recreation as a Husky, tears flowed the corners of her eyes as she embraced the longtime UConn coach in an emotional hug.

It was apparent in the course of the postgame press convention that shedding has been troublesome on Bueckers. Whereas she was in-uniform for UConn, the Huskies by no means misplaced back-to-back video games, a lot much less three in a row. Heck, UConn solely misplaced three video games all season this previous marketing campaign.

Between reporters asking questions, Ogunbowale pointed to the field rating in entrance of her, noting totally different numbers. Bueckers glanced at it, shrugged and gave non-animated responses to her teammate. The one piece of information that mattered, the ultimate rating, wasn’t within the Wings’ favor.

“Coming again residence is de facto cool, and it’s an ideal expertise,” Bueckers mentioned. “However what we’re making an attempt to construct and what we’re making an attempt to do within the recreation is extra vital.”

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Individuals have requested Bueckers over the previous few weeks what essentially the most troublesome adjustment has been from the school to the professional recreation. It’s a standard query that rookies get and one which Bueckers has answered. However the true reply might don’t have anything to do with what Bueckers is and isn’t capable of do on the court docket. She’s nonetheless a sensible passer, a savvy defender, a strong shooter, and somebody who performs with a fiery competitiveness.

The distinction between enjoying in Storrs, Connecticut, and Dallas, Texas, is that Bueckers has to grapple with shedding very often. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to alter anytime quickly.

Dallas, thus far, appears like a disjointed group. Along with drafting Bueckers, they introduced in a whole lot of new faces to place across the one regular star for the franchise over the previous a number of seasons, Ogunbowale. The Wings don’t play a conventional heart, as an alternative choosing a lineup that largely options three forwards and two guards. They’ve a first-year head coach and a first-year basic supervisor. It’s an early and small pattern dimension, however the Wings rank within the backside of the league in most statistical classes.

It’s additionally not but clear whether or not Ogunbowale and Bueckers is usually a viable and profitable backcourt pairing. By way of three video games, the previous Notre Dame guard is taking pictures career-lows from the ground (30.4) and from 3-point vary (25.1).

That is all to say, issues would possibly worsen for Dallas earlier than they get higher. And it’ll be price maintaining a tally of if Bueckers can proceed to play effectively even because the losses pile up.

“In the future at a time. That’s the motto I’m going with,” Bueckers mentioned. “Simply, each single day, I’m making an attempt to develop and get higher. As a group and as a company, we’ve got the identical mindset.”

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On Wednesday evening again in her residence state, Bueckers fulfilled Deion Sanders’ prophecy of how wanting good results in enjoying good. She confirmed as much as the Goal Heart and walked via the bowels of the sector in an outfit created by the enduring Harlem designer Dapper Dan. The match, full with a customized zip jacket, is the product of a partnership with Sherwin-Williams to spotlight their Loneliest Coloration of 2025: Radiant Lilac SW 0074. The paint producer calls it a “shade that evokes self-expression and shade confidence.”

It’s a becoming description and applicable that it’s Bueckers who’s main the marketing campaign to spotlight the colour. As a result of this season for her may not be about wins and losses. It may simply be about her proving to everybody that she’s destined for stardom within the WNBA, that she’s somebody a group can construct a championship-contending roster round, and she or he could be the most effective participant on the ground.

“I believe Paige goes to be actually good,” Collier mentioned of a fellow UConn alum. “She’s a three-level scorer, she’s an ideal passer. , rookie years are actually laborious, so I might simply inform her that there’s going to be ups and downs. However from what I’ve seen, she’s staying aggressive.”

This season may be about Bueckers sustaining her confidence, irrespective of how far the Wings fall down within the standings, and it may be about Bueckers totally expressing the kind of participant she is and could be.