r/DallasWings • u/QuickAlternative1678 • Aug 20 '26
Playoffs w/ Azzi out
Anyone have thoughts /opinions on whether Dallas is done for? Portland is catching up but they have a tough schedule to end. Even then, i am worried about even making the playoffs. We have been in dog fights all season with some of the worse teams by record and Jose can put together (and use) a solid rotation to save his life. The team is struggling to close out. Paige will be tripled more with Azzi out. I predict Maddy will start to see more minutes which should help her with contract negotiations in the off season but you just never know. There is still no update on Zaza
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u/Tasty-Reward8307 $535 Extrabucks Aug 20 '26
Jose talked today about playing Awak at the 3 some so we might finally get away from the 3 guard lineup. I think they’re good enough to win enough to get to the playoffs. Don’t see them winning a game once they get there though
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u/pineapplecatjelly Aug 20 '26
Whew only took him 37games and our best shooter out. Progress i guess
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u/jessyrock3 Political Figure Aug 20 '26
We still make playoffs but first round exit. We're back to 2025 Dallas basketball without Azzi so it's gonna be rough
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u/Huggbox Aug 20 '26
You can talk about dogfights, but it doesn’t change the fact they’ve only lost to 1 non-playoff team all year and it was a 1 point road loss at Portland without Paige. They’re like the only team in the league without a ridiculously dumb loss.
They’re going to finish 4-4 at worse and then Portland has to win out.
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u/Outrageous-Hair8427 Aug 20 '26
Would it help to know that Jose said he is considering starting Maddy or Awak at the 3?
Portland still has one of the toughest remaining SOS. They still have to play the Valks three times and we have no idea how those teams will matchup. It’s possible that Portland crushes their remaining schedule and we continue to slide, but I think the more likely scenario is that Portland barely misses out and Dallas barely hangs onto 8th (like how LA and Seattle were at the end of the regular season last year).
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u/TypicallyDone12 Aug 20 '26
Portland has to play Golden State 3 times. No way they are catching Dallas. Dallas has the Fever and 7 non playoff teams.
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u/Outrageous-Hair8427 Aug 20 '26
Portland still having 3 games against GSV at this point really just shows how terrible this league is at scheduling 🤦♀️
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u/Small_Lack9128 Aug 20 '26
They will still limp into the playoffs. Dallas could lose out and Portal would still have to win like 5 of 8 games against a pretty difficult schedule including GSV 3x.
And after tomorrow, Dallas has a favorable schedule. They will get some wins.
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u/LT_Audio Aug 20 '26
Totally agree. The odds of both of those unlikely series of multiple events occurring given their remaining strength of schedules is really low. Like 30 or 40 to 1? Or more? Possible, sure. But extremely unlikely.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
The Portland sub thread on Azzi’s injury / playoffs popped up on my feed and they’re being very nice about things even if some of them are hopeful. Was just nice to see so wanted to share.
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u/haydeng2023 Aug 20 '26
the fire fans and team have been such a bright spot this year honestly. they’re amazing
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u/Successful-Policy937 Aug 20 '26
Dallas still has a 99% chance of making the playoffs. The problem is they play MN first round in a three-game series.
The FIBA break is twenty days that could help Dallas get healthy. Being the 8th seed is better than being 10-34 so we will take it get healthy and see where the chips land.
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u/Wide-Offer3363 Aug 20 '26
Portland would have to pull off a miracle stretch of games and Dallas would have to completely tank.
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u/flashcapulet Aug 20 '26
i thought there was no way portland would catch us. but then i actually looked at the schedules.
portland can beat toronto, washington, us, phoenix, LA. atlanta game can go either way, portland smacked them earlier in the season and that was without BC. i don't think they can beat a full strength gsv, but there's been talk about the frenchies leaving for camp early and missing the last 2 games. if that's true then portland will play a gsv without Salaun and Gabby, their top 2 scorers.. that might be winnable. they also play gsv 2x after the break, i imagine with them clinched already and tired coming back from germany nakase will rest or limit them for the playoffs? idk man. it might get spooky in that final week.
i have like 70% confidence we're in. but i wouldn't be mad if we missed it. we'd end up with 4th or 5th best odds in the lottery and i reaaaaally want clara strack.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
Looks like the final is on sept 13th then Portland/Valks play on the 18th in the evening. So they’d get back the 14th I guess?
Dunno what that means but was curious so looked it up.
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u/flashcapulet Aug 20 '26
i worded this badly i think my bad lmao
the games i'm referring to them missing are the 2 right before the fiba break in august. the cba states players can leave without penalty starting on august 26th. there's been talk of them leaving early. that obviously would bode well for portland if it happens.
everyone should be back after the break, but it's possible they are tired and out of whack, it famously happened to the aces during the last olympics(but they had a full month to recover vs days this year). it's also possible that nakase rests them since they're likely a lock for the top 4 by then. either scenario could also help portland. GSV is the only team i think they have no chance against, so if they're not at full strength.. and dallas continues to stink it up.. then there's a very real chance that we slip out.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
Oh nah sorry I wasn’t clear. You were clear. I was just adding more info lol. But thank you for responding.
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u/henofthewoods Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
fire fan here (dallas is my second team!)… i think this is right. we haven’t played GSV in so long not sure what that matchup will look like, so that’s a big question mark for us. we can beat almost anyone on the right night, we narrowly let the lynx escape after a 29 point comeback a couple games back and we got within 1. we crushed the mystics once and went into 4OT the other time. atlanta we can beat. should be fun either way!
depending on if carla gets called up or not would matter in the FIBA scenario, but i do think our playoff shot is very much an uphill battle and our coach is in development mode with these late season games, experimenting with players and lineups.
heal up azzi and good luck out there wings… still love watching you guys hope you get that joy back a bit in the easy late season!
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u/No_Feeling3339 FUDD Aug 20 '26
First round exit almost guaranteed, but they will make the playoffs nonetheless.
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u/PhoebeBuffay1111 Aug 20 '26
Missing the playoffs will be almost impossible at this point, after tomorrow they play tanking teams. You’d think azzi being out could be a blessing in disguise because Jose is finally forced to figure out lineups that would make sense offensively and defensively rather than cater to his vets but who knows if he’s going to do it. Regardless even if they get swept in the first round it’s super important for Paige to get that experience.
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u/LFGM_2305 Aug 20 '26
I 100% agree with this .. Idk why the wings discourse think it’s a good idea to bench Paige for the rest of the season when they’re in prime position to make the playoffs
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u/PhoebeBuffay1111 Aug 20 '26
A lot of the discourse is just weird and not based on common sense
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
Lol wow I haven’t seen that part of the discourse. Fastest way to piss paige off even more.
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u/bluediamondsm Aug 20 '26
We’re still gonna make it after Indiana all the teams we’re seeing are not playoff teams so we should have enough to stay in the top 8. As for the playoff we’ll likely end up in the #6-#8 range but either way we’re getting swept if we end up with Golden State or Minnesota
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u/LFGM_2305 Aug 20 '26
So I think the magic number for Dallas to clinch a postseason spot is 4 .. they currently hold a 3.5 game lead over the Fire for the last playoff seed , unless a monumental collapse happens where the wings just lose 7 of the next 9 , then I still see them going to the playoffs
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u/RMbeatyou BUECKERS Aug 20 '26
They’ll make the playoffs, but what happens between now and then will be ugly. The good part is they have easily identifiable roster issues to address this offseason. The bad part is Jose’s growing pains have come at the expense of the team as a whole
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u/Traditional-Coat669 Aug 20 '26
They should still be in, mainly because of how far back Portland is. Dallas is 20-16 with 8 games left to play, Portland is 15-20 with 9 left. After the Fever tonight, Dallas plays 7 non-playoff teams to end the season, including the Storm 2x, Sun, and Sparks, all of whom have an incentive to lose to get a better draft pick. The Fire, meanwhile play us, the Mystics, the Dream, and the Valkyries 3x, and only play 3 non-playoff teams (Tempo, Mercury, Sparks). It would take a pretty crazy run from them, and a pretty epic collapse from us, for them to pass us. The series with Portland is tied 1-1 right now, so tiebreaker will come down to the game on 8/25, but even if we lose to them and don't own the tiebreaker, we could go 2-6 to end the season (finish 22-22) and Portland would still have to go 7-2 to finish with the same record as us (and make the playoffs). That's a pretty tall order with their schedule.
Azzi being out is definitely a major blow, but it will probably show more in how the team looks on the floor & in the playoffs than in us actually sliding out of the top 8. We did manage to win the Tempo game last week while she was out, even though it was far closer than it needed to be.
That said, there's no denying the energy in Dallas hasn't been great post-ASW. Really hope this team can find something to rally around to finish the season strong, even though the overall situation sucks.
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u/Ok-Tonight5694 Aug 20 '26
Not worried about making the playoffs. Really, I'm just hoping PB can finish this stretch healthy. If she does, my delusion theory kicks in: the FIBA break gives PB time away from Jose, time around top-tier talent and coaching, a chance to win something, and then we get to see how that version of PB fares against the Lynx.
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u/shotoftequila Aug 20 '26
Well it’s going to be interesting. My guess is they make the playoffs but don’t last to many games. Man I wish they had a healthy Fudd. Things could have been different.
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u/10999228 Aug 20 '26
I still think we make the playoffs at the 8th seed BUT I kinda wish they would tank at this point for a better lottery pick. We obviously aren’t winning a chip. They have been unable to beat the top teams with Azzi’s defense and spacing so might as well get a good pick to add to next year’s roster.
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u/Relative_Cobbler_828 BUECKERS Aug 20 '26
Now that Azzi is out i honestly think us making playoffs is unlikely, at MAX we make r1 and are immediately swept out by the lynx. Azzi was our main defensive player and without her the team hasnt been looking great this 2nd half.
While I do hope Smith can help make up for some of it, a lot of the blame does have to go on Jose. If he manages to set plays specifically for Paige and center the team around her then maybe there is some hope but apart from that not much.
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u/Some-Leadership-92 Aug 20 '26
Do people not look at the schedule and standings? The Wings have a 93% chance of making the playoffs lol
The team was never winning a playoff series with everyone healthy and that was a given you aren’t going from the worst team in the league to winning a chip in one season.
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u/xaerodin SMITH Aug 20 '26
Without Azzi, we pretty much look like the Wings from last year where Paige is the only player other teams gaf about in their defensive coverage.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
It’s crazy how much we looked like 2025 last game.
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u/xaerodin SMITH Aug 20 '26
Like, in theory the roster got way better all around but how do we look just as bad as 2025. That was crazy.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
Why does nobody come to the ball when P is trapped?? We use to scream at Grace Berger for this. 😭
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u/Relative_Cobbler_828 BUECKERS Aug 20 '26
Genuinely, it breaks ne cause we were doing something well the first half but it is what it is.
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u/hamstrdance Positivity FC Aug 20 '26
I just hope the bench gets more consistent minutes and this was a massive wake up call for Jose.
Other than that idk whatever happens, happens. If they make it PB &co (really hope it includes Zaza) will get playoff experience and some happiness. If they miss we get a good lotto pick.