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How Paige Bueckers, Wings remain ‘encouraged’ despite difficult season
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- How Paige Bueckers, Wings remain ‘encouraged’ despite difficult season
The post How Paige Bueckers, Wings remain 'encouraged' despite difficult season appeared first on ClutchPoints .
ARLINGTON, TX — The Dallas Wings have continued to fight despite a difficult overall 2025 WNBA season. Dallas holds an 8-23 record heading into Sunday's game against the Washington Mystics , yet the Wings are often competitive in games. Paige Bueckers , who missed Friday's game with a back injury but is available Sunday, explained why the Wings' performance is encouraging despite the end results.
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"It's encouraging… The optimism side of it," Bueckers told reporters before Sunday's contest. "We're not getting blown out, we're competing in every single game… We're getting reps in pressure situations of playing together. A lot of us have never been in these situations before in the W. It just obviously builds confidence, builds trust and builds just a continuity of knowing that we're getting those reps."
The Wings have battled adversity throughout the 2025 campaign. Head coach Chris Koclanes has endured criticism along the way. Yet, the head coach continues to believe in the future of the team. Koclanes has been pleased with the Wings' ability to remain competitive in games, but hopes the team can start stronger in contests en route to earning more victories.
"It's extremely encouraging… The difference between winning and losing in this league is marginal," Koclanes said before the game. "It's extremely small. It's a couple possessions here and there that swing a game… Encouraged by our team. Again, I've just loved that we've had plenty of games where it was slipping and you could've seen it go 25, 30, let's throw in the towels. But nine times out of 10 it has come, okay, two possessions, three possessions, scratching and clawing.
"And then you just kind of run out of steam because you work so hard to bring it that close. So, encouraged, appreciate our fight and our resiliency and our ability to stay together and just keep coming back, keep coming back. And now our growth area is to not dig those holes and to start stronger."
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Myisha Hines-Allen is a veteran who has seemingly stepped up as one of the team's vocal leaders. Hines-Allen echoed a similar sentiment when discussing Dallas' overall performance.
"We're in every game, we just gotta figure out how to close games or even how to start games better and put four quarters together," Hines-Allen said Sunday. "I think that's where we're struggling at right now. I mean, it's a learning process, learning curve for everybody here. So, I mean, if we can continue to, like, have that edge, like, how we play when we're down, then I think we can beat any team in the league."
The Wings will play the Mystics on Sunday afternoon.
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