On the Beat With the Dallas Wings 09/16/2021

The Dallas Wings held a practice day media session featuring Coach Vickie Johnson, Tyasha Harris and Marina Mabrey. It was a quick, but interesting session.

Coach Johnson started by discussing the playoffs. As expected, she stated making the playoffs is great, but it's only the start. It's not enough to simply make the playoffs. While I agree with Coach Johnsopn in theory, guiding the Wings to a playoff berth in her first season is quite an accomplishment and bodes well for the future.

I asked Coach Johnson about dealing with a losing stretch. The Wings went through a 2-6 skid in July and August. During stretches like that, when does a Coach shake up things versus stayibgthe course? Coach Johnson gave her insight. I still wonder if the streak went longer what would have happened. Fortunately for the Wings, they were able to get back on track.

Finally, I asked Coach Johnson about a sandwich named after her at the Carnegie Deli in New York years ago. She chuckled a bit and stated she did enjoy the sandwich, but she had a slimmed down version of the 3,000 calorie monster.

Next up, Harris talked about lessons from this season. Harris is having a similar season to her last, mostly coming off the bench, but providing a solid contribution.

Last was Mabrey. I asked her to talk about her clothing line, which she gladly did. All of her products can be found on MarinaMabrey3.com.

Dallas is 13-18, in fifth place of the WNBA Western Conference. With the league reseeding in the playoffs, in the first round, Dallas will face the Chicago Sky, who will finish in second place of the Eastern Conference. It's a single elimination game in Chicago. Despite home court and a slightly better record, I think the Sky will be a low points favorite.

The media session can be found at On the Beat With the Dallas Wings 09/16/2021. Go to WNBA.com for more news on the Wings and the league. Also, return here for more coverage.

On the Beat With the Dallas Wings 08/01/20

The WNBA Dallas Wings stand at 2-2 after losing to the Las Vegas Aces 79-70.Sunday. They face the Chicago Sky tonight.
After Saturday's practice, the Wings held a media session featuring Assistant Coach Bryce Agler and players Tyasha Harris and Bella Alarie. 

My food question to the Connecticut Sun's Jacki Gemelos went so well, I decided to make continue it for a full story online for Global Traveler. The answers were not quite as entertaining as Gemelos gave me, but they were still interesting and I think they enjoyed the change of pace from the usual basketball questions.

Go to WNBA.com for more info on the league and all teams. Check Johngy's Beat, GlobalTravelerUSA.com and GlobalWomensSportsRadio.com for my recurring WNBA coverage.

On the Beat With Dallas Wings 7/23/2020

I attended another Dallas Wings media session as the Wings gear up for their WNBA season opener this afternoon. This session featured rookies Bella Alarie and Tyasha Harris. I wrote more about the session at Dallas Wings Media Session (Bella Alaire, Ty Harris, UA) for Global Women's Sports Radio.

Prior to her WNBA career, Harris starred at South Carolina, where she became the first Gamecock to record 700 assists, finishing with 705. That is good for 10th all time in the SEC. She was selected by the Dallas Wings in the first round (7th overall) in the 2020 WNBA draft.

Alarie was a three time Ivy League Player of the Year while starring at Princeton. She started all 106 games during her time at Princeton. She was selected by the Dallas Wings in the first round (5th overall) of the 2020 WNBA draft.

Bella is also the daughter of former NBA player Mark Alarie. The elder Alarie starred at Duke, before being selected by the Denver Nuggets in the first round (18th overall) of the 1986 NBA draft. After one season with Denver, he played four more with the Washington Bullets (now Wizards), finishing his NBA career after the 1990-91 season. All told he played 325 games and averaged 7.5 points per game.

My friends and loyal readers know I have a fascination with sports families. The Alarie connection is even more special. I have only found Karl Malone-Cheryl Ford, Nate-Natalie McMillan, Harvey-Tamika Catchings and Antonio-Kaela Davis as other father-daughter NBA-WNBA combos. I also found Pamela-JaVale McGee as the opposite, a mother son combo.

I asked Bella about her father and she talked a bit about his guidance and advice.

Check GlobalWomensSportsRadio.com for my recurring WNBA coverage. Also check WNBA.com for more info on the league.