Paige's Wings Page (merged thread)

[WiseWillie]

Clark also elevated her teammates to having career years playing with her and leading IN to the playoffs for the first time in 8 years while making first team All WNBA

I think everyone knows who Clark is on this forum but this is Paige's Wings page. If you are so apparently consumed with CC then perhaps you should go to her page wherever that may be to converse with other Clarkies. And now let's talk Paige, shall we?

 

[boontonbomber]

For those 3 it is about winning championships not the arena. All 3 are in their 30's and time to win championships is running out. The team in New York right now isn't very good and will be lucky to get out of the 1st round this year. Cloud isn't the answer as a point guard. And Emma, Stewie, and JJ need to be utilized better in an offense and Paige already is better utilizing her teammates then anyone on the Liberty.
Plus those 3 are still pretty good on defense as a group.

Not get out of the first round? You got some spare cash you don't mind losing? If I had my pick of players Stewie would still be my first choice. When she is back, and playing with Meeseman, look out. There is no better foursome in the WNBA than Stewie, Emma, JJ and Sabrina. Lloyd, Young, Gray and Wilson are close. Admittedly, NY must play better defense.

 

[cancontent]

Careful Curt. Don't give Jerry Jones any ideas! 😉

 

[oldude]

Paige was showing out for the Hollywood crowd in LA tonight with one of those amazing games where she was making everything from everywhere, including one tough fall away, where she was fouled and issued her now familiar, “and f— one!”

Paige hit a new career high, scoring 44 pts on 17/21 shooting, along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. She played one of her very best games ever, at any level, but it still wasn’t enough to carry the Wings to victory as they lost a heartbreaker to LA 81-80 on a last second shot by Plum.

The Wings are really not a very good team right now and they are also beat up with several players out with injuries. But so long as Paige is on the court, they are fun to watch and they hang around in games, even though they are usually overmatched.

Paige had 44 of Dallas’s 80 points, tying the WNBA rookie scoring record set by Cynthia Cooper 28 years ago, during the inaugural season in the W when Cooper was 34 years old. The true, just out of college record, for a rookie was set by Candace Parker who scored 40 pts during her rookie season.

Paige got some help from Siegrist and Geiselsoder. But aside from those 3 players, there was some truly ugly, head scratching basketball played by the rest of the Wings team.

Paige will win ROY in the W this season and then Curt Miller can overhaul his roster with a lottery pick in the draft and some veteran free agents to surround his franchise player with.

 

[Stagnant]

Man, I hope they make some big changes in Dallas. I just feel like they got everything wrong in the offseason. The coach, MHA, Carrington, Smith, the expansion draft. Paige is pretty much the only thing they did right. And I am dreading her being stuck there for three more seasons.

 

[Basingstoke]

As great as Paige has been this season, this was the game she finally went into all-out "you can't stop me" mode. Just remarkable efficient scoring and shooting. As usual, though, her assist numbers were severely limited due to the fact that no one else on the Wings can consistently take advantage of receiving a well-timed and well-placed pass (including in the last minute of the game).
On the other hand, I am still stunned by the ineptness of refs in the W, ie the uncalled foul on a blitz in the first half which sent Paige violently to the floor resulting in a turnover (& finally drove Koclanes over the edge to get a technical for protesting the non-call) quickly followed by a foul called on Paige for allowing herself to get cleared out by a the off arm of Van Loo(?) (which was compounded by upgrading it to a clear path foul - actually, technically correct IF YOU IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE FOUL CALL WAS WRONG...- sorry for shouting).
End of rant.
Paige is extraordinary. Go in peace.

 

[ctbro1999]

Man, I hope they make some big changes in Dallas. I just feel like they got everything wrong in the offseason. The coach, MHA, Carrington, Smith, the expansion draft. Paige is pretty much the only thing they did right. And I am dreading her being stuck there for three more seasons.

The last possession where Plum basically drove into the lane untouched and wide open for the game winner....I mean WTH? 🤦‍♂️

 

[oldude]

The “Holy Grail” of shooting is considered to be 50/40/90. Last night, Paige shot an eye-popping 81/100/100. She had been struggling somewhat from beyond the arc. But last night Paige couldn’t miss, hitting all 4 of her 3-pt shots, none of which touched anything but the net.

 

[my2cents]

I think we are seeing what happens when a student-athlete becomes a professional full time player. They can really improve, i.e. Napheesa Collier. Paige is improving big time. Her moves to the basket are "ankle-breaking'. Pull-ups are money.
She is both being aggressive and unstoppable.
Her assist numbers would be way up if the Dallas roster was better.

 

[oldude]

I think we are seeing what happens when a student-athlete becomes a professional full time player. They can really improve, i.e. Napheesa Collier. Paige is improving big time. Her moves to the basket are "ankle-breaking'. Pull-ups are money.
She is both being aggressive and unstoppable.
Her assist numbers would be way up if the Dallas roster was better.

On Paige’s ankle-breaking moves, there were a couple times when she was isolated, one-on-one with an LA Big after a switch, either Z or Brink. The Bigs can’t back off Paige, or she’ll drop a 3 on them. So they have to guard her out on the floor, at which point she immediately starts dealing with her handle, behind her back, between her legs. This typically leads to Paige’s defender getting mesmerized, at which point she blows by them for an easy layup, as if their feet are nailed to the floor. It’s a beautiful thing……

 

[ctbro1999]

On Paige’s ankle-breaking moves, there were a couple times when she was isolated, one-on-one with an LA Big after a switch, either Z or Brink. The Bigs can’t back off Paige, or she’ll drop a 3 on them. So they have to guard her out on the floor, at which point she immediately starts dealing with her handle, behind her back, between her legs. This typically leads to Paige’s defender getting mesmerized, at which point she blows by them for an easy layup, as if their feet are nailed to the floor. It’s a beautiful thing……

Some of her moves from last night reminded me of Kemba Walker's legendary ankle breaker in the BET against Pitt. Not quite Kemba's level, but pretty dang close!

 

[Basingstoke]

On Paige’s ankle-breaking moves, there were a couple times when she was isolated, one-on-one with an LA Big after a switch, either Z or Brink. The Bigs can’t back off Paige, or she’ll drop a 3 on them. So they have to guard her out on the floor, at which point she immediately starts dealing with her handle, behind her back, between her legs. This typically leads to Paige’s defender getting mesmerized, at which point she blows by them for an easy layup, as if their feet are nailed to the floor. It’s a beautiful thing……

For better or worse, the only way to defend Paige when she's hot is to throw multiple defenders on her at one time or to have multiple defenders close and ready for when she keeps turning and faking (as it would for virtually any superstar).
Eventually, even this will not be successful when she us surrounded by real scorers who can receive a timely pass and make the opposition pay on a consistent basis.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Bueckers shot 17-of-21, making her the first player in WNBA history to shoot at least 80% from the field while scoring 40 or more points.

 

[ShmiCO]

For better or worse, the only way to defend Paige when she's hot is to throw multiple defenders on her at one time or to have multiple defenders close and ready for when she keeps turning and faking (as it would for virtually any superstar).
Eventually, even this will not be successful when she us surrounded by real scorers who can receive a timely pass and make the opposition pay on a consistent basis.

There was one amazing play last night where LA had 4 defenders in the paint and Paige just slipped through right down the middle for a layup. It was a beautiful rebuttal of the "pile on more defenders" tactic.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Man, I hope they make some big changes in Dallas. I just feel like they got everything wrong in the offseason. The coach, MHA, Carrington, Smith, the expansion draft. Paige is pretty much the only thing they did right. And I am dreading her being stuck there for three more seasons.

Of the 13 rookies averaging at least 6.5 ppg, Dallas has four of them - Paige Bueckers, Luisa Geiselsöder, Aziaha James, and JJ Quinerly. Geiselsöder was a second round pick (in 2020), while Quinerly was a 2025 third round pick (and is the only third round pick to appear in over 25 games so far this year).

The Carrington and Smith acquisitions were not great for the Wings, but the franchise quickly rectified those decisions. And Dallas trading for Li Yueru and Diamond Miller gives the team younger players who have shown flashes of potential.

Honestly, the biggest issue is finding a way for Bueckers and Ogunbowale to just not co-exist but to thrive together. Last year, the Caitlin Clark-Kelsey Mitchell took time to develop, but after the Olympic break, the two were incredible together. Arike's injury has prevented that from happening (remember, Paige played the NC game less than six weeks before the opening game of the WNBA season, which is not a lot of time to develop chemistry).

And the offseason focus needs to be what to do with Arike. She is an absolute dynamic scorer with incredible crossover moves. But her shooting efficiency has plagued her, only shooting at or above 40.0 percent from the floor twice in seven seasons. After a slight post-ASG bump in shooting in July, she crashed down in August before being out with injury. And for someone who shoots over 86 percent from the line -- and who can get there by blowing past defenders -- she does not incorporate getting to the line into her repertoire as much as she could or should, often settling for ill-advised three-point attempts (she has shot over 35 percent in three of seven seasons from three, but not since 2022).

 

[ctbro1999]

Most articles about Paige's night say she tied the rookie record for most points scored in a game, which is technically true, but the person she's tied with, Cynthia Cooper, was 34 when she set the original mark because she set it during the W's inaugural season where ALL players were officially rookies even though the vast majority had years playing professionally overseas and a decade or more separated from their college ball days.

So among true rookies in WNBA history, Paige stands alone at the top of the hill.