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For the second straight month, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers is your WNBA Rookie of the Month.
The runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year, Bueckers had a standout July for a Wings team languishing outside of the playoff picture. Over the course of the month, she averaged 18.2 points per game with 3.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
Bueckers ended the month with consecutive 20-plus-point performances, including a masterclass in an upset win over the New York Liberty in which she posted 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals with only one turnover.
And at least so far, she has carried her sparkling play into August. In Dallas' loss to the Indiana Fever on August 1, she scored 22 and matched Cynthia Cooper as the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 400 career points and 100 career assists (22 games).
For Bueckers, her success on offense has been a product of sticking to what she does best. As she explained to ClutchPoints' Joey Mistretta in July, she has leaned into her elite mid-range jumper. While she has become one of the best mid-range shooters in the game already, she's also working on expanding her repertoire.
“I want to avoid over-penetration, but I feel like I can get to the paint, to the rim a little bit more, get to the free-throw line a little bit more, draw a little bit more contact,” she said.
The step-up in competition from college to the pros has helped her, she said.
“I think playing against defenders in this league, they're the best defenders in the world,” Bueckers explained. “So you have to be able to get your shot off in tight spaces, close spaces, be able to create space to get your jump shot off.”
Bueckers will have her work cut out for her this coming week as the Wings face the Liberty twice, once in Brooklyn and once back in Dallas.
