Indiana Fever Coach has High Praise for Paige Bueckers originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Dallas Wings lost to the Indiana Fever in the first matchup between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark since joining the WNBA.
Despite losing 102-82, Bueckers continued to flash her dominance, outscoring Clark 21 to 14 and shooting a stellar nine-of-15 from the floor to go with two steals and four assists.
Bueckers seems to have found her footing and is well on her way to having just as effective of a rookie season as Clark, although she is yet to find the same team success.
While Clark and Bueckers are fierce competitors who don’t want to give each other too much praise, it was hard to ignore Bueckers’ performance, even if she got blown out in the game.
“She just always stays neutral,” praised Fever head coach Stephanie White. “She doesn’t get rushed. Her pace, her poise, her decision making, she just is a very neutral mindset. And when you play somebody who is really high IQ, who is elite in all areas, and you try to make them uncomfortable, but they kind of just maintain that flow, you know, it makes it tough.”
In the WNBA, American players have to be four years removed from high school, so they spend four years in the NCAA learning the ropes and adjusting to greater competition, unlike the NBA, where players can suit up as teens.
Bueckers was elite in college and seems to have picked up right where she left off.
“I mean, that’s the difference in good players and great players, right?” White asked. “I don’t know how many games in, right? So it’s just, it’s fun to watch. Not as an opponent on the other sideline, but for a lot of young players that come into this league, there’s a learning curve. And how quickly they figure it out is always interesting to see.
And for Paige, she’s figuring it out.”
Once Bueckers “figures it out” and the Wings finish their rebuild, Dallas should be the best basketball city in the country, with the Wings right at the center of it.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.