Paige Bueckers believes her defensive efforts at UConn translate to WNBA: ‘You want to prove you can do it’

Despite being known as an elite offensive player, Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 pick in last month’s WNBA Draft, is proud of the work she put in on defense while playing at UConn. As the Dallas Wings rookie gets ready to play in her first professional game, she hopes those skills transfer to the professional court.

During Thursday’s media availability, the point guard was asked about having to sometimes play the 4 in college and if that experience could come in handy in the WNBA.

“It actually is relevant to today,” she said. “When we are playing defense and we are trying to get size to the rim, I don’t need to switch out. I can stay in there and guard 4s.”

However, Bueckers is also cautious about that because as she pointed out, the physicality she was used to as a college player will be different in the WNBA.

“It just adds another layer of competitiveness to make a point, you want to prove that you can do it,” she said. “And just wanting to get defensive stops, and be able to guard 1 through 5 — probably not 5, but we’ll get there.”

Most point guards don’t get tasked with playing the 4, but UConn dealt with several injuries in the past few years and the 2023-24 season was a particularly tough one. The Huskies reached the Final Four despite having a depleted roster and mostly using a six-player rotation. 

Being shorthanded led to players having to take on different roles, and Bueckers was no exception as she adapted her style of play to take on power forward duties. UConn coach Geno Auriemma was happy with how Bueckers embraced the role and even jokingly referred to her as a “quintessential power forward.”

That was the season Bueckers was returning from a torn ACL. Although she had missed the entire previous season while recovering, Bueckers bounced back while becoming physically stronger and leveling up on defense.

The Wings only played one preseason game, so we still haven’t seen much of Buckers at the WNBA level. Dallas lost 112-78 to the Las Vegas Aces in the May 2 matchup, but Bueckers had a decent outing with 10 points in almost 23 minutes while shooting 4 of 7 from the field and adding four rebounds and one assist. 

Bueckers is playing her first official WNBA on Friday, May 16 when the Wings host the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET.