On this week’s women’s basketball edition of The IX Sports Podcasts, co-hosts Howard Megdal and Jackie Powell discuss new freedom of movement officiating rules in the WNBA. The pair also explore the current state of the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty.
Freedom of movement
The co-hosts opened the pod with a discussion of freedom of movement, which Powell defined as essentially meaning that less contact is being allowed during WNBA games. (You can read her latest reporting on it here.)
“You are free to move around, and so — it is early [in the season], but some observations that I’ve made is that there are some defensive hurdles that players and teams are trying to navigate right now,” Powell said.
Megdal observed that even teams that are disproportionately impacted by the change are happy about it.
The Dallas Wings
Megdal argued in his latest column for The IX Sports that the Dallas Wings are in a good position to take as full advantage of these new rules.
The team is led by the three guard line-up of Azzi Fudd, Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers. They have an offensive net rating of 124.3.
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“There are 56 three player combinations with at least 90 minutes logged in 2026 across the league. That trio is easily atop the league,” Megdal said.
Fudd is doing this while coming off the bench. Powell asked what it will take for her to get into the starting lineup or whether it could be WNBA Sixth Player of the Year campaign. Megdal said that he didn’t think it really mattered as long as she keeps performing well for the team.
Questions still remain for the team on defense, though — listen in to learn more.
New York Liberty
Powell said that Breanna Stewart told media after their game against the Mercury Wednesday that she believes the team has made progress.
“I’ve been covering this very talented New York Liberty team for a long time, and it seems like it’s not necessarily a coaching problem when it comes to complacency. It’s something in basketball when you have such a loaded roster; sometimes there are those effort lapses because you know how talented you are, and I think that’s been probably one of the Liberty’s many issues to start,” Powell said, adding that illnesses and injuries have also created a high level of uncertainty for the team.
The offense was moving noticeably better on Wednesday night, Powell said, referencing the team’s 23-0 run in the third quarter.
Powell said she believed the turning point in that game came from a specific huddle in the third quarter when Chris DeMarco put his arms around the players on the outside of the huddle and told them, in no uncertain terms, that they needed to play defense. Only then did he sit down in the middle of the huddle.
“I just think that visual is important. I think it’s important to describe sort of what his style is,” Powell said.
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What you missed on today’s episode of Women’s Sports Daily: Everything we know about the PWHL draft.