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Paige Bueckers’s Coach Had One Big Problem With How Refs Treated Star Player in Loss

Andy Nesbitt

Paige Bueckers had just nine points in the Wings' loss to the Valkyries.
Paige Bueckers had just nine points in the Wings' loss to the Valkyries. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings suffered their fifth straight loss Sunday night as they fell to the Golden State Valkyries, 90-81, at home.

Bueckers had an off night, finishing with just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. Since exploding for a historic 44 points in a loss last Wednesday to the Sparks, Bueckers has scored a combined 20 points in the last two games.

Following Sunday night’s game, Wings coach Chris Koclanes wasn't happy with how the referees treated Bueckers, who had just two free throw attempts in the loss.

"It was extremely physical out there," Koclanes said to reporters. "When she’s attacking the rim and playing in the paint downhill, for her to only to go to the free throw line two times, something’s off there. For her to play downhill and as hard as she did and with all of the fouls in the game and all the physicality, for her to only go two times I don’t agree with that."

Koclanes was called for a technical in the fourth quarter after he yelled at the refs for not making a call when Bueckers was knocked to the ground while trying fight for a rebound.

"It's physical, the whistle’s not going our way and then I see her just get run over—that’s an offensive foul," Koclanes said. "She’s boxing out and just getting absolutely run over and thrown to the ground. How many times does she have to be on the ground for us to start protecting her and cleaning up the physicality?"

Here's that play, which seemed like a really bad call against Bueckers:

Here are more of Kolcanes's postgame comments:

Next up for the 9-29 Wings is a home game against the Sun on Wednesday night. It will be interesting to see if Koclanes's words about the officials will lead to more calls for his star player going forward or if she'll have to continue to fight through some physical play in her rookie season.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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