Teaira McCowan will make her Dallas Wings debut at home against the Washington Mystics tonight. McCowan is from Texas, and fans and family are happy to see her play.
“I’m pretty sure the fans are going to come out to see me and I’ve already had a lot of people messaging asking when I would be back for a game because the season had already started. So, I think it’ll be a packed house,” McCowan said. “My family was excited that they could finally come to some games and see me since I am close to home. Everybody has been saying I need to come back home, so I guess they finally got their wish.”
The Indiana Fever sent Teaira McCowan, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, along with a 2023 first-round pick (via Chicago) to the Wings in exchange for the No. 4 and 6 overall picks in the 2022 Draft and the Wings’ 2023 first-round pick.
McCowan averaged 10.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in three seasons with the Fever. She also shot 53% from the field. McCowan can be a dominant post player and could average 20 and 10 if she gets enough touches.
At 6 foot 7, McCowan can dominate in the paint; the Wings coaching staff is expecting “Big T” to be a force in the paint.
“They’re expecting me to do what I’ve been doing – I come in and rebound and be a force to be reckoned with on the court offensively and defensively. So, I think that they’re not going to expect anything less from me, but I met all of the coaches today in person. The vibes were great in practice, so everything was good.”
Wings head coach Vickie Johnson had this to say about McCowan’s return from Europe and how she will fit in. The league is the league – she’s not a rookie; she’s a fourth-year player. She’s played against Washington at least six or seven times as well as New York. It’s not like she’s coming into a new league. It’s a league she’s already played in and been very successful in. Our sets are the sets everybody else runs, so it’s nothing new. Defensively, it may be a little different for her and the things we’re trying to do. But we’re trying to keep our flow of the game and [substitute] her in and let her play quality minutes, but smart minutes.”
When asked if McCowan would star or how long she would play, Johnson would commit to anything, “No, and I don’t know about her minutes because I don’t want to put a number on it because I don’t want to be a liar. The flow of the game will tell.”
If McCowan comes in and plays to her potential, she could help the Wings out. Her presence inside could take some of the pressure off Arike Ogunbowale.
“She will add size and attention. They can’t really leave her alone a lot and focus on the guards because she does require a lot of attention or that’s just a layup. Ogunbowale said. “It’ll definitely help us space the floor a bit defender-wise for them. They have to be true to her being in the post, so a variety of different things honestly and rebounding.”
It will be interesting to see how Dallas will use McCowan; they will need her size and physical presence inside if they want to succeed.
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