Dallas Wings coach Jose Fernandez didn’t mince words in calling out Paige Bueckers and the entire locker room after the team’s 90-85 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. In a profanity-laced rant, Fernandez slammed his players for being too selfish and urged them to take accountability rather than complaining about minutes and shot attempts.
The Wings have at times dominated their first three games, but have repeatedly struggled in the clutch. They escaped with a win against the Indiana Fever on Saturday, but couldn’t manage that against the Dream and the Lynx in the last two games.
“It’s real talk and it’s accountability, that’s what I told them,” Fernandez said about his players. “I told them there’s selfishness in this locker room. There is. And you gotta look in the mirror and be accountable on how you play.
“And don’t get upset if you think you should’ve played more or you didn’t play enough or you didn’t get the shots you think you should’ve gotten. Really good teams, they don’t give a s**t about that. You know what they give a s**t about, they give a s**t about winning.”
The Wings led Thursday’s game by 12 points in the second quarter. They maintained that lead until midway through the third, but didn’t let the Lynx swing the momentum entirely. Dallas regained the lead for the better part of the fourth quarter before Minnesota found its way back with 2:38 left.
The Wings had a four-point lead before that, which evaporated after consecutive layups from Courtney Williams and Natasha Howard following Paige Bueckers’ missed 3-pointer, Alanna Smith’s turnover and Jessica Sheppard’s missed layup.
The Wings scored only two points in the last 1:32 minutes, while the Lynx went on a 5-0 run to close the game.
Paige Bueckers reacts to Wings dropping the ball in two of their first three games
Paige Bueckers acknowledged the Dallas Wings’ struggles in the clutch after their loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. The 2025 No. 1 pick admitted it’s a learning curve for the franchise as it meshes new pieces together amid a rejuvenated push for the playoffs. Bueckers believes it’s too early to panic, but said that accountability is important.
“We’ve had actually like three pretty close ones (games) to start,” Bueckers said. “We won the 1st one & it’s like, that’s what this league is all about. Close games, learning how to finish. Obviously, we’re a new team…it’s going to take time and reps and it’s our only 3rd game of the season…We don’t want to panic, but we also want to hold ourselves accountable to the standard that we want to set.”
Paige Bueckers finished with 27 points, three rebounds and eight assists and was the best player on the floor. However, she faded in the clutch. While Bueckers scored six points and had an assist in the fourth, she only scored one point in the final three minutes. Bueckers missed 3 and a crucial free throw that would have made it a one-point game with 13 seconds left.
Bueckers also struggled against blitzes, forcing Jose Fernandez to replace Azzi Fudd with Odyssey Sims in the clutch. Defensively, Bueckers struggled to contain the Lynx’s drives at the point of attack.
