September 20, 2022
Examining why the Dallas Wings fired Vickie Johnson
Biggest factors for next head coach include Collier's role, Ogunbowale's development
On Monday afternoon, the Dallas Wings announced the firing of their head coach, Vickie Johnson, after serving two years in the position. Johnson was informed of the change Monday on Zoom, league sources told The Next.
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Johnson led the Dallas Wings to a 32-36 record, including a 1-3 record in postseason play. Dallas will hire their fifth head coach since moving to Dallas from Tulsa for the 2016 season.
What tools will Wings give new head coach?
Perhaps the biggest question ahead for the new coach of the Dallas Wings is mastering rotations. With a starting five and bench as deep and productive as the Wings, how will the next coach maximize the potential of players and productivity of the team?
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For example, the 2021 number 1 overall pick, Charlie Collier, only averaged 4.6 minutes per game coming off the bench. Rookie Veronica Burton saw more action within the starting lineup due to injury in the regular season and during the Wings’ playoff run. Newcomer Teaira McCowan received her first career Player of the Week honors, as she filled a necessary void as a strong offensive and defensive post player for the Wings. But even her emergence happened gradually, and the lack of consistency in roles led to dissatisfaction throughout the Dallas locker room, multiple sources told The Next.
Due to the development of the roster, the first round draft picks, and five-woman rotation, the growth of the Dallas Wings lies in their youthfulness. They are one of the youngest teams in the league seeking ways to positively exploit the young talent on their squad.
Competition for head coaches
Now, As Dallas moves forward with their vacancy, the Wings, along with the Fever and Sparks, look to fill their head coach positions.
Dallas’ sixth-seed performance this past season is a solid foundation of success for any incoming coach. From the growing offensive performance of Arike Ogunbowale to the consistency inside from Isabelle Harrison and McCowan, right through young point guards Ty Harris and Burton, there’s plenty to work with in Dallas.
Howard Megdal contributed reporting to this story.
I just don’t get where Dallas thinks they are going? Are they rebuilding/developing talent? Are they expecting to go deep into the playoffs? (It seemed like the later is what they were emphasizing.) The roster seems all over the place. You have a bunch of bigs and go after Teaira McCowan? Great move, but it appears more like blind luck to me.
Whose minutes do you cut to get Collier time on the floor? McCowan? Thorton? Harrison? Kuier? A healthy Sabally? In a league that is going smaller, there just isn’t a lot of minutes to go around for the bigs. Someones not going to be happy.
This needs to be Greg Bibb’s last coaching hire. Hopefully Dallas gets where they want to. If not, it is time to change the one constant in all the disfunction.
Team Mabry all the way!! Undervalued and overlooked!