Barely three games in, coach Jose Fernandez had some friction with the Dallas Wings. “There’s selfishness in this locker room,” he said. “You gotta look in the mirror and be accountable on how you play.” The Wings were shaky on the ground as fans expected cracks between the coach and the players to emerge after these comments. Yet, it seems the players have taken it to heart.
The Wings want to win. They haven’t in the last two seasons, finishing with 19 wins combined. However, they have been blessed with two No. 1 picks in UConn stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. It’s definitely a base to build around. The Wings’ management brought in Jessica Shepherd, Alanna Smith and Awak Kuier to help this team take the next step. And everything would have fallen apart if Jose Fernandez’s comments had hit the wrong way. Instead, the players appear to have embraced the criticism and remain committed to growing under Fernandez.
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“No. He’s a wonderful coach,” Aziaha James said before the Washington Mystics clash (via DallasHoops Journal). “He pushes us every day. He wants the best out of us. He’s very detailed, and he just wants us to be great players.”
Fernandez is known as a tough coach with immense experience behind him. At USF he became the all-time winningest coach, led the program to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, and earned conference coach-of-the-year honors. He can succeed as the Dallas Wings coach but needs to be given a chance first. And the players are committed to finding a way through their uncertainties and unknowns.
“Yeah, I agree. I think he pushes us to be better every single day,” Maddy Siegrist said. “We take that as a lesson and try to come together and be the best we can be. Like I said, we’re only three games in. We’re still figuring it out as a group. Nobody wants to be playing their best basketball three games into the year. You want to get better every single game. I think that’s the goal overall — for the staff and us to grow and learn every single day.”
With the thumping 92-69 Washington Mystics win, the Dallas Wings are still only 4 games into a 44-game season. It’s too early to judge anything. And the Wings have shown some flashes of brilliance that give fans hope.
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Against the Mystics, Paige Bueckers impressed with 18 points and 7 assists, while Azzi Fudd showed why she was picked at No. 1 with 12 points and 3 assists from the bench. They limited the Mystics’ frontcourt to just 24 rebounds while grabbing 31. They pushed the pace against the tall Mystics front court and shot 70 shots compared to 49 from their opponents.After the game Arike Ogunbowale sent a resounding message regarding their locker room piece.
Arike Ogunbowale Sends Clear Message Regarding The Dallas Wings Locker Room
Locker-room chemistry can define an entire season. Remember last year when the Indiana Fever took eventual champions to Game 5 in the semifinals with a mishmash team? Much of that was credited to the positivity in their locker room. It can work the other way too, negativity often seeps into the game from the locker room and slowly poisons it. While these external concerns continue, the Wings players themselves are not bothered by it.
Honestly, we’re not worried about what people think about the locker room. It’s about what we think about ourselves,” Arike Ogunbowale said. “We know our standard. We know what coach wants us to do. We know what we expect from ourselves, and I think we showed that tonight.We just have to continue that.”
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The external voices can make things worse. Social media has been shown to impact players’ mental health. All that matters is they are improving. And the Mystics game also showed that they have worked on Fernandez’s criticisms.
They played an unselfish game with 30 assists as compared to the 22 against the Lynx. The team seems to be heading in the right direction. If the Wings manage to take another leap, this team could become a legitimate contender by the time playoffs arrive.
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The post “Pushes Us Every Day”: Dallas Wings Star Addresses HC Fernandez’s ‘Selfishness’ Allegations Ahead of Mystics Clash appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
