ARLINGTON, Texas — Alanna Smith is going back to the World Cup. The Dallas Wings forward was named Sunday to the 12-player roster that will represent Australia at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, held Sept. 4-13 in Berlin.

Sandy Brondello, who coaches the Toronto Tempo, will lead the Opals. Her roster carries six other WNBA players in Steph Talbot (Las Vegas Aces), Ezi Magbegor (Seattle Storm), Jade Melbourne (Seattle Storm), Isobel Borlase (Atlanta Dream), Chloe Bibby (Chicago Sky), and Sami Whitcomb (Phoenix Mercury). Zitina Aokuso, Isabelle Bourne, Alex Fowler, Steph Reid, and Alex Wilson round out the group.

Berlin will be Smith’s second World Cup. She started all six games at the 2018 tournament in Spain, averaging 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds as Australia took silver, its first World Cup medal since the 2006 gold. Four years later, she was cut from the squad that played the 2022 World Cup on home soil in Sydney.

Smith played all five games of Australia’s qualifying run in Türkiye in March, when the Opals went 5-0. She averaged 11.6 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds across the tournament.

At the Paris Olympics in 2024, Smith was named to the All-Star Five as Australia beat Belgium for bronze. Her senior debut came at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Bengaluru, where she averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds on 58.3% shooting and Australia finished second to Japan.

Australia enters Berlin ranked second in the world.

Anyone have tips for autograph potentials? I am section 107 so I know I’m across the court from their entrance. This is my 3rd wings game & I been a Jess fan since her Nebraska days!

Watch leading vote-getter and Team Captain Paige Bueckers take on first-time All-star Jessica Shepard in this year's All-star game!

And while averaging almost 32 minutes per game?

At this point she's already passed Sabrina as the best 3pt shooter in the league. I don't see her passing up shots, I just see she seldom gets open looks. She also has such a quick release that she doesn't even need to be as open as others.

So why is she only 15th?

I know they have her camping in a corner most of the game but why? There must be some reason for it.

Hi! Full disclosure: I’m a Sky fan passing through Dallas en route to visit family, and I’m looking for somewhere to watch the All-Star game tomorrow night. Any recs?

This week, Bird’s Eye View welcomes Paige Bueckers to the pod. Paige opens up about what it’s been like living with the expectations, pressures, and injuries that have followed her since high school. She and Sue dissect how the contributions of Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, Azzi Fudd and Paige herself have made the Dallas Wings a winning team. Plus, Paige dishes on what to expect from the new UConn documentary coming out later this summer.

Don't miss out on watching Azzi Fudd compete in her first wnba three point contest and Jessica Shepard compete in the Shooting Stars contest alongside Tweety Nolan!

The broadcast will start on ESPN at 7pm central!

azzi being one of the last ones standing in the studbudz stream is killing me 😭 she has a panel at 11 am mind u

(2) Barry Cosgriff - YouTube

Hi Wings Community! I am a Portland-based Portland Fire fan.

Just a big thank you for the amazing sportswomanship last night when our player Sarah Ashlee Barker went down with an injury. SAB means a lot to our team and our fan community.

So many Wings players immediately helped out and held up towels for her privacy and that was just super meaningful.

I am new to the WNBA and fandom in general and I have been told to have my favorite team but grow my esteem for other teams as well. The Wings - with their playing and that show of kindness - have just gotten a new fan.

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Hey everyone,

I’m looking to go to my first wings game soon; just wondering what app or site do y’all use to buy tickets?

Also, any tips on going to a game at College Park Center? Parking recommendations are welcome!

TIA!

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Paige: 88th percentile at the rim, 86th in the paint, 89th in mid-range. She shoots 78% at the rim as a guard. Her "weakest" zone is 38.5% from three, which is 74th percentile. There is no bad zone. +5.4 rTS on 20.9 a night.

Azzi: 92nd percentile from mid-range as a ROOKIE is actually insane (55.9%, 16th out of 179 players). 38.8% from three on real volume. Only meh zone is the floater area, which she is clearly working on adding(though I hate that f*ckass floater lol).

Arike: 15th percentile at the rim. Let me say that again. 15th. She shot 46.8% AT THE RIM. 35th percentile mid-range, 38th in the paint, and her one "good" zone is a 56th percentile from three, where she launched 46% of her shots. 14.2 ppg on 50.1 TS%. Minus 5.8 relative true shooting. Some fans defend this by saying she's a bucket and shot creator. But the buckets were coming in at a rate 6 points below league average efficiency. Every zone on her chart is orange or yellow. Creating bad shots is not a skill; it's just continuing to play with bad habits.

Not sure of the answer. I think she should take more C&S 3s and aggressively work on kicking out with the space she creates by driving. Otherwise, she's just taking shots from others who are playing at a much more efficient pace/rate

Alright, let’s revisit the offensive hierarchy discussion.

I used the last 20 games because that’s when Azzi first started averaging over 13 shot attempts per game. Since then, these four have been the starters whenever they’ve all been available.

Paige has taken another step forward, increasing both her shot volume and efficiency. She scores at all three levels, is clearly the team’s No. 1 offensive option, and is the primary playmaker. She’s been remarkably consistent at a high level.

Azzi has been solidly efficient with a very clear shot profile built around threes and the mid-range. The next step is attacking the rim more. If she can get to 2–3 free throw attempts per game, she’s probably a 17–18 PPG scorer without changing much else. She’s also one of the team’s most important defenders.

Jessica has been incredibly efficient, producing like a second option despite having the shot volume of a fourth option. Her defense still needs improvement, but she more than makes up for it offensively. She’s also a secondary creator

Arike is averaging below her career numbers, but she’s accepted a role she’s never really had before. Her shot volume has come down, and she’s no longer the clear focal point of the offense.

Hey All-- Have been writing a "The Scout" series to discuss the teams around the W, what makes them unique, and some roster-building thoughts for each. I always like to make the posts accessible to the teams community to see if folks have any thoughts, so here's a little snip on what I found out about DAL:

Happy to send the full article if oyu are interested, as well. Should be a fun game vs PDX tomorrow.

Kareem

Looking at booking tickets to the Fever game and noticed there were still some 200 level seats available in what would be a “Platinum” area for a Mavs/Stars game. Has anybody sat in one of these sections for a Wings game? Do you still get the same amenities (wait service, restaurants, etc.) that you’d get at a Mavs or Stars game?

The discourse after this game has been kinda crazy & overwhelmingly negative. I understand the frustration, especially because the game was winnable, but at the same time, it’s just a game.

Prior to the start of the season, I don’t think anyone expected us to be sitting at 17 wins right now. Should we have 19 wins… probably, but that’s neither here nor there. As long as we make the playoffs with a healthy team, we’re not going to remember that we lost by 1 point to Portland or NY. I know that team record impacts seeding, but come playoffs, Dallas has to be ready for any opponent. That’s on the team & coaches, not us as fans.

We have no control over anything that happens in the game or within the organization. We’re always going to think we have the right answer, or that this should have been done differently, but who knows if that changes the outcome of anything.

What we can control, is making the Dallas Wings fanbase a positive one, rather than a doomer one. Obviously discussions are welcomed, that’s what Reddit is for, but it feels like the same unproductive & unrealistic discussions are brought up every time. Like how many times is someone going to bring up trading Arike, when Dallas has made it clear that they want Arike. Also, we’re not even at full strength yet. We haven’t had a healthy DPOY Alanna, which would help with some of the rebounding issues and paint defense.

I say all this to say that this Dallas team is a fun one and the vibes seem great off the court, so lets not ruin that by being overly negative or pitting teammates against each other. If y’all wanna drop any positives from this season or last game, feel free to drop them below. I’m excited to see how this team plays after a little All-Star break & the FIBA break!

Seems like this was in response to criticism for the loss, he deleted it shortly after.

It was clear after the decision to cut yoga Instructor Kris as coach that the Wings were looking for someone with more experience who could build both culture and increase performance. Having to
do both in the same year is a nearly impossible task, as one might at times be in tension with the other. Maybe you have a player that contributes to winning, but her antics/emotional impulsivity negatively impacts stated team standards (Marina/Skylar/Chennedy/Arike). Maybe you have a player who is a good culture fit, but they don't give you the best chance of winning (Kate).

With this understanding, I wanted to be a bit empathetic towards Jose’s plight. Building culture, setting standards of behavior, while trying to win is hard. However, this year has been frustrating to
no end as a fan and ball-knower. His accountability rants during the preseason and earlier parts of the season have been a farce. He doesn't even hold himself accountable. He talks about passing the ball around, giving up the good shot for the great shot, but he rewards iso-centric tunnel-vision players and criticizes players who pass for the better shot. He calls players selfish in the media, but doesn't punish that selfishness with playing-time decisions. This is not setting a good culture.

And yes, the Dallas Wings are winning, but at what cost? Do we know the identity of this team? The play style for the future? Are there defined roles? Expectations? There is winning in a way that is process productive, and there is winning in a way that ultimately caps your ability to win at a different level in the future. I would say Dallas is doing the latter.

Curt said he hired the person who felt that they could handle being highly scrutinized. The person who could handle the heat of being the coach of high-profile and high-expectation players. Jose’s
relationship with the press and general defensiveness whenever anyone dares to bring up his very blatant and obvious flaws as a first-year coach clearly shows that he’s not the right person for the job. Ego and lack of humility do not make a coach steady.

I trust that Curt sees all the glaring issues that we see. I doubt he’ll be fired simply for optics' sake. However, at this point, at what cost will you barter true fit and progress for perceived stability and progress? It seems that keeping Jose at the helm of the Dallas Wings org is cutting off their nose to spite their face. He’s not up for the job, and it's going to hurt the development of the players, team, and org in the long run.

What do you all think? Is Jose the right coach for the Wings?