ARLINGTON, Texas — In the midst of a culture change and the filling up of roster spots, the Dallas Wings have a lot of potential to continue making noise out west.
The Wings still have many skilled players on their roster, many of which have displayed that talent with all-star appearances, rookie of the year honors, and national titles. It’s high time we dive into a few players down the roster that could use an increase in role.
Get Gray The Ball
Dallas must utilize 2017 National Champion & 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year Allisha Gray, the same way, if not more, than they did during her rookie season when she averaged 13 points per game. During her rookie campaign, Gray led all rookies in blocks, steals, assists, and minutes. When Gray is more involved within the offense, it makes the team more unpredictable. Utilizing her outside shooting ability to nail shots coming off of screens and making open shots give the Wings more scoring to lean on as opposed to the 2018 season when Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage dominated the scoring load. If utilized correctly, she can be used similarly to the way the Golden State Warriors use Klay Thompson on offense. Everyone knows that a teams stars cannot be ignored and will always garnish the attention of the players and usually are integrated in opposing coaches’ game plan. If Head Coach Brian Agler can draw up a package of plays for the former ROY, it can pay dividends for their team moving forward. It also just doesn’t have to be from outside, she can be used to score anywhere since she can also put it on the floor and get to the basket and draw fouls, where she was an 86 percent free throw shooter.
Just Trust Johnson
Glory Johnson, still just 28 years of age and a former 2x WNBA all-star, has a chance to get back to form this season. In her sophomore campaign is when Johnson broke out as an all-star. Last season she saw a career low in minutes per game at just 22.5 minutes, opposed to even 2017’s mark at thirty-one a night. In the three years where she has averaged at least 30 minutes per game she is posting averages of 14.8 points and 9.1 rebounds a game. Not only could we use her on offense to help share the scoring load, she is mainly looked at for veteran and team leadership. She is not a rim protector, but she’s a vocal leader on the court as well. Her presence is needed on both the sidelines and within the game. Her game has expanded since entering the league, in the past two seasons she has added a three point shot to her arsenal and has hoisted at least two a game the last two years where she shot 31 percent from deep.
The Play Of Plaisance
No matter what team you play for, or where you play, impressive numbers still impress, especially in wins of course. Most of the Wings players, if not all, were playing Overseas basketball since the conclusion of the WNBA season. Well, Theresa Plaisance is one of those people and she has been dominant. Last season she missed all but seven games in the season due to recovering from a torn ACL from the season prior. Earlier in the month of January, Plaisance did something that you don’t see every day and it most definitely grabbed the attention of all who saw. Plaisance scored 30 points and grabbed THIRTY-ONE rebounds in a lopsided victory…..THIRTY-ONE!!! It may just be me, but it looks like she’s plenty healthy and deserving of some more minutes. Plaisance has only had one WNBA season with at least 4 rebounds, so surely more of this new activity on the glass will translate over for the Wings. Her game has also been expanded to the three point line as well. Last year in her seven games she shot 47 percent from three on almost three attempts a game.
Dallas still has plenty of time to get things figured out and continue to scout players, but you may not have to look too far. The Wings have made the playoffs the past two seasons regardless of inconsistent play each year, they still manage to scrape to the postseason. Hopefully with the new coach in place and the players added/to be added, they can be more than a team that just squeaks into the playoffs.
