Awak on Kuieri has been in a hurry again. The season in Italy ended four weeks ago, and now he has been in Dallas for two weeks. The new WNBA season starts for the Dallas Wings on Saturday with a game in Atlanta. Until then, Kuier, 21, will try to forget the European, organized style of play.
The season in Italy was long for Umana Reyer Venezia, and Kuier got plenty of playing time in the team. In the United States, there was a preparation camp ahead, where he immediately had to run a lot. Kuier says he’s lucky, though, that he’s been injury-free and will be at full strength when the season starts.
Kuier has gotten into his team’s atmosphere and game well, even though at first he wondered where he would fit in the new game patterns.
– I really had to completely leave the Italian and European style of play. It was difficult at first, but now it feels like I’ve gotten into the rhythm, says Kuier at his computer and opens up about the difference in playing styles.
– In Europe, the game is more tactical. There’s more organized play, where here in the WNBA it’s more like just play and see what happens.
A bigger role on offer
Dallas’ new coach has also offered his own challenge to adapt Latricia Trammell, who is now the head coach for the first time. According to Kuier, he has never had such a positive coach. Is it even possible to have too much positivity, he thinks for a moment, but concludes that it is not possible.
– But he is constantly shouting something positive. Such a ball of energy. Always happy and ready to help. It’s really nice to have a koutsi like this for a change.
Kuier stops to think about the fact that he is already starting his third season in Dallas. It seems strange to him that time has passed so quickly. The first season went well for her mostly as she got used to WNBA games, but in the second season more was expected of her. Now Awak Kuieri is offered an even bigger role.
– I have spoken with the coaches. They have pushed me in the direction that this year I have a much bigger role. They have said that I have to be ready, says Kuier.
The fact that the team has a new coach can be seen in everything, because the new coach has his own new ideas. According to Kuier, the team is very different from before. There are fewer centers, but instead there are more players in the third and fourth positions. In his opinion, it means that there is a lot of running on the field.
Last year, Kuier applied toughness and self-confidence to his game. He believes he got it in the season that ended in Europe, because he changed his previous team Ragusa to the tougher Reyer. That’s how he got to play Eurocup matches as well.
Kuier took a step forward and the Italian season left a positive feeling. That’s why she believes that in the upcoming WNBA season she will get to show more of herself.
– Se Awak is more experienced and ready to take on a bigger role.
The Eurocup offered a dream and a challenge
Kuier fulfilled one of his dreams in his season in Italy. He got to play against the toughest teams in Europe in the Eurocup games. Reyer Venezia advanced all the way to the semi-finals, but Galatasaray was 13 points stronger than the Italian team and took the place in the final. In the final match, Lyon was clearly better than the Turks.
– The further we got in the Eurocup, the more challenging it became. But it was really fun! Kuier tells.
– It felt like every game was such that it could go either way. We can win or lose. It just depended on how hard you play and how hard you want to win.
During the season, Kuier faced increasingly taller and tougher players, but he always managed to find a way to play his best game. He considers that he has developed above all in his game reading skills and toughness.
The season brought Reyer Venezia a semi-final spot in the Italian league and Eurocup, as well as silver in the Italian Cup. It was a good achievement for the young team, but it also left the players suitably hungry for next season.
– We were playing the Eurocup or the semi-finals for the first time. Considering that, it was a really good achievement, but we are all so competitive that we would have liked to go further. Everyone was really disappointed, especially when Italy was eliminated in the semi-final stage.
Next spring may be the time to choose
The Dallas Wings made it all the way to the playoffs last summer, but that’s not enough for the team to aim for this season. Now the team wants to get to the end, to become champions. Success in the WNBA would be good for Kuier, as she is not sure if she will be able to play in both the Italian League and the WNBA after this season.
The WNBA has tightened its rules so that players don’t run away to play on European courts during the break. That’s why every player who plays in the WNBA must be involved from the first day of training camp.
The WNBA season thus begins in mid-May and the series playoffs are played in October. The Italian league starts again at the beginning of October and the playoffs are played in April-May. Kuier now plans to play this season in Dallas first, start the season in Italy and think about the situation after that.
– But if I miss even one day of camp next season, then I won’t be able to play. It all depends on how far we go in the Italian league next season. If they overlap, then I have to choose, says Kuier.