After the third game of the regular season, head coach Jose Fernandez said there is selfishness in the Dallas Wings locker room.
He said it on Thursday night, after a 90-86 home loss to the Minnesota Lynx, that Dallas led for most of the night. The game was close on paper. Fernandez was not.
"There's selfishness in this locker room. There is," Fernandez said. "You gotta look in the mirror and be accountable for how you played, and don't get upset if you think you should've played more, or didn't play enough, or didn't get the shots you think you should've gotten."
Dallas dropped to 1-2 on the season. Minnesota, now 2-1, became just the second team this year to shoot above 60% in a game, finishing 35-of-58 from the field. The Wings shot 46.3%, won the assist battle 22-20, and got 29 points from their bench. Dallas still lost.
Jose Fernandez Says the Film Will Convict
Fernandez kept circling back to one number. Dallas had 16 assists in the first half. They had six in the second, and empty possessions piled up in key moments.
"We had 11 of our first 12 baskets assisted in the first quarter. At halftime, we had 16 assists. What did we finish with? Twenty-two," Fernandez said. "So we go from 16 assists in the first half and 11 in the first quarter to six in the second half. Go back and watch the game. The ball didn't move like it should."
The defense bothered him more. Fernandez didn't see Minnesota run different plays after halftime, but Dallas failed to make necessary defensive rotations.
"When things are not going well for you offensively, you gotta play a lot harder on the defensive end," Fernandez said. "I think the back row and rotations hurt us, but they didn't run anything differently than they ran in the first half."
He used the phrase "body language never whispers." He used the word convict twice.
"Coaches accuse, players accuse, but the film is gonna convict," Fernandez said. "Convict our effort. Did we get over ball screens? Did we rotate? Did we cover backside block? What was our effort?"
The Dallas Wings' Pick-and-Roll Coverage Broke Down
The breakdowns started in the first half. Dallas was up eight when Minnesota hit two threes out of pick-and-roll rotations. The coverage did not recover from those possessions.
"We went up to touch, we went over ball screens, we switched, we trapped," Fernandez said. "We were up eight in the first half, and what happened? They came out and hit those two big threes on rotations. It started there."
A reporter described the late-game backside defense as having holes in it like "Swiss cheese."
"You're absolutely correct. That's a good analogy," Fernandez said.
Natasha Howard was unstoppable in the @minnesotalynx’s victory over DAL 🦾
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 15, 2026
She went off for 26 PTS (19 in the 2H), 5 REB, 4 AST & 3 BLKS!#WNBASeason30 pic.twitter.com/t0IFknKzkP
Fernandez had pointed to transition defense as a worry earlier in the week. Thursday's issue was different, with a focus on giving up drives in the half-court and a lack of rebounding execution.
"I don't think transition hurt us today. Downhill drives, and the glass hurt us today," Fernandez said.
Minnesota turned offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points to Dallas's nine. The Lynx dominated in the paint, 48-40.
Bueckers finished with 27 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 assists in 31 minutes. The Dallas offense hit 11 of its first 12 baskets in the first quarter off an assist.
"Defensively for us, it's being able to get stops, play team defense, play better pick-and-roll defense, but just set that tone," Paige Bueckers said. "Honestly, it's playing better throughout the entire 40 minutes, so that games don't come down to the last two minutes so much."
Paige Bueckers and Maddy Siegrist Headline the Dallas Wings Box Score
The 27 points were a season high for Bueckers. Seven of her eight assists came before halftime, a personal best for a half. It was her eighth straight game with at least 15 points and 2 assists, the longest active streak in the WNBA.
Maddy Siegrist scored 17 points before halftime on 5-of-5 shooting. The 17 was a career high for a half. She did not score after the break. The final line was 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 16 minutes off the bench. The seven made field goals also moved her past 300 for her career.
Fernandez was asked why Siegrist did not see more fourth-quarter time after a half like that.
"She did have a great first half. That's why she started in the second half," Fernandez said. "But we came out of halftime in pick-and-roll coverage and gave up two threes. So that was the coaching decision."
The issue was not scoring, he said.
Azzi Fudd put up a career-high 8 points in 19 minutes in her home debut, adding 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block. She finished a team-best plus-11. Fudd picked up four fouls and said postgame she is still learning to get through ball screens cleanly.
"Yeah, I gotta learn how to get over, get through ball screens better, how to keep my hands off, and not foul so much," Fudd said.
Odyssey Sims logged 11 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 2 steals in a late-closing role. Fernandez said he brought Sims back in because Minnesota was double-teaming Bueckers and wearing her down.
"You want Azzi much more comfortable. We had to get Odyssey back in there because Paige was getting double-teamed and she was getting worn down," Fernandez said. "We needed a point guard in there to get us into some things."
What Comes Next for the Dallas Wings
The 1-2 record is three games old. The film, by Fernandez's account, will not be. Dallas is off on Friday, but has two consecutive practice days to get on the same page.
"Really good teams, they don't give a shit about that. You know what they give a shit about? Winning," Fernandez said. "Because that's what matters."
Dallas closes a three-game homestand on Monday against the Washington Mystics at College Park Center. Tip-off is 7 p.m. CT on KFAA locally and Peacock nationally.
