Turn the Paige: Bueckers Beginning a New Era in Dallas

While the Dallas Wings are in a rebuild year, Paige Bueckers has made her case as the, perhaps unanimous, Rookie of the Year.  

Bueckers has established herself as one of the top players in the WNBA; she certainly will be on one of the All-WNBA teams.

Pick-And-Roll Pro

The 23-year-old star Paige Bueckers is averaging 18.1 points per game, good for seventh in the WNBA, and leads all rookies.

The former UConn Husky product is second in mid-range pull-up attempts per game (5.9) and knocks them down at 47.5 percent, good for the fourth most efficient in the league.

One variation of a pick-and-roll play has the initial ball-handler toss the ball to the screener and build momentum downhill before receiving the ball back for a screen and roll.

On this play, Bueckers tosses the basketball to Myisha Hines-Allen and chases the ball to flow into a pick-and-roll. Hines-Allen sets a vicious screen on Bueckers’ defender to free up space for Bueckers’ pull-up midrange jumper.

As Bueckers tosses the basketball to Hines-Allen again, she chases the ball for a potential dribble handoff to flow into a pick-and-roll, this time her defender denies her the ball.

Bueckers’ shows her IQ here as she plays the player and not the play. She counters the defender by moving away from the ball (and the initial play), catches it on the move and cashes in another bucket in the midrange. 

To end the that first quarter against Indiana she takes that midrange shot with 35 seconds to go — giving her team time for a two-for-one opportunity — plays a defensive possession and then gets the last shot of the quarter with about ten seconds to go. 

Midrange Madness

Dallas is the third worst team in the WNBA in both three-pointers made per game (6.4) and three-point percentage (31.2), so opposing defenses don’t have to spread the floor against the Wings. They can focus on Paige Bueckers and her mid-range attacks. 

Despite that, Bueckers averages the most pull-up jump shots per game (6.9) and is the sixth most efficient on pull-up jump shots (45.9 percent) in the league.

Bueckers starts off the ball and catches on the wing for an isolation play. 

As she gets her defender to open her defensive stance, the gap defender off the strong side corner slides in to show help, as well as the rim protector. 

Bueckers pulls up for a contested midrange and knocks down a tough shot while drawing contact on the way up. 

Bueckers has the green light to take any contested midrange shot she wants. It’s clear she’s been given the keys to the franchise.