"Mentally crippling DiJonai Carrington": Fans blast Wings coach Chris Koclanes for ignoring her plea to challenge foul in heartbreaking loss

Chris Koclanes and the Dallas Wings came within four points of their second win of the season on Friday against the Las Vegas Aces. However, the 88-84 loss at the hands of reigning MVP A'ja Wilson was not the main takeaway from the game. Fans bashed Koclanes for not challenging a play in the fourth quarter that helped the Aces come back and win the game despite DiJonai Carrington's pleas.

With 3:20 left in the game, the Wings held an 82-73 lead when forward Myisha Hines-Allen was called for an offensive foul. After Koclanes called a timeout, Carrington begged her coach to challenge the call. She all but screamed at the first-year coach to use his challenge. When he did not listen, the Aces drew a foul. Carrington struggled to contain herself as she walked down the court.

If Koclanes had challenged the play and gotten it overturned, it could have helped break up the 15-0 run Las Vegas went on to come back and rob the Wings of a road win. The reaction around the league to Dallas' slow start has had fans pointing the finger at many different people. However, the coach has been the primary recipient of the criticism.

One fan posted a video of what happened, empathizing with Carrington and blaming Koclanes for ignoring her pleas. They were not the only ones upset with how the game ended.

"Chris is mentally crippling DiJonai," the fan wrote.

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Sheryl Swoopes blames Curt Miller and Chris Koclanes for the Dallas Wings' poor start

With their loss to the Aces on Friday, the Wings sit at 1-11. They are the only team left in the league without multiple wins this season. Dallas fans have blamed players and almost everyone in the organization for the disastrous start, but WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes gave her take on who has the most responsibility for the team's struggles.

"I am not going to put all of the blame on Chris," Swoopes said. "(Wings general manager) Curt Miller, this is your hire... Yes, Chris has got to take a lot of the ownership, but so does Curt. It's one thing to be friends, but this is about wins and losses."

Miller received a lot of scrutiny when he hired a long-time friend to take over as the team's coach. So far this season, Koclanes has done nothing to relieve any of that pressure. The longtime assistant coach has struggled to make the transition into the lead role on his coaching staff. DiJonai Carrington's near outburst on Friday is another example of how the players on his team are starting to lose patience.

After drafting Paige Bueckers No. 1 in this year's draft, the Wings were optimistic about this season. Despite a strong showing from their rookie star in the games she has played, Dallas has a long way to go to get back into contention. While its coach is not the only person underperforming on the team, he is not doing anything to help it turn things around.

About the author

Zachary Howell is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University and over a year of experience in the field.

Being introduced to the digital side of content inspired Zachary to become a writer, and his love of basketball made this an obvious transition.

His favorite team is the OKC Thunder, and Zachary started following them in 2011 when they were on the rise with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. His favorite basketball players from the past are Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. Those three came to define their eras of basketball and were dominant without beating their chests too much. Zachary is a big fan of quiet greatness and these three players are good embodiments of that.

When not writing or watching sports, Zachary enjoys reading and exercising, as well as gaming. He loves to be outside and spend time with friends and family, including his three dogs.

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Edited by Zachary Howell