Arlington, TX, April 24, 2016 – New season, new city, the Dallas Wings training camp is here! The Dallas Wings tipped off day one with focus and momentum as they start to prepare for the 2016 inaugural season.
“It feels great. I’m back home and I’m excited,” said third-year guard Odyssey Sims, an Irving, TX native and Baylor graduate. “I’m ready for the season and I think we had a great first practice.”
The Wings look to make another playoff stint this season as they enter a new city. The team opened up their first practice of camp to the public to give the Dallas-Fort Worth community a glimpse of how a WNBA team prepares for a winning season. This year’s training camp roster comes with lots of power, talent and depth.
“Our first practice was really meant for the fans and the season-ticket holders,” Wings head coach Fred Williams said after practice. “We had to show who we are early. This is great for us.”
Led by Sims and guard Skylar Diggins, the Wings hope to bring a fast tempo and up-beat style of play to the court at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center. Today’s practice was a preview of that for the nearly 500 fans in attendance.
“It’s an up and down style. We want to try to get to 90 possessions each game,” Diggins said. “Coach Williams wants us up and down the court and to push the tempo. We want to control the tempo on both sides of the ball. That’s why you see us going up and down a lot in the first practice, getting ready for that.”
Wings guard Erin Phillips, an offseason trade acquisition from the Los Angeles Sparks, spent her first practice in Dallas getting used to Coach Williams’ style of play.
“I’ve been playing against Coach Williams for many years,” Phillips said. “He’s always been one of the hardest teams to play against. His teams are free-flowing and they play with a lot of energy and pace. They are aggressive. It’s a really fun way to play as a player.”
Phillips, Diggins, and Sims, along with forward Plenette Pierson, make up the core group of Wings veterans that led the team in drills and set the tone for training camp during the open practice. Pierson opened her 14th season in the WNBA at today’s practice and has high expectations for the young Wings.
“I’ve already got two championships, I’m expecting to get another one here in Dallas,” Pierson said. “Everybody knows what we did last season is good for last season, but we expect greatness for ourselves. Everybody here has bought in to what we’re about this season- and that’s going out here and being better than last season, and making the playoffs, and going on a championship run.”