The shared sense in the Sky’s locker room, in Wintrust Arena and in the group chats of diehard fans is that the season should be going better. The Sky brought in enough big names — and even discovered a hidden gem in rookie guard Sydney Taylor — that they shouldn’t be faltering against the rebuilding Mystics and the expansion Tempo.
They aren’t supposed to be 4-9.
Coach Tyler Marsh knows this. He speaks about it. He keeps putting the onus on himself to be better. He keeps defending the roster, even though it has been an odd collection from the start.
And, to his credit, his players still are preaching accountability. Veteran point guard Natasha Cloud confessed she needs to stop chirping at the officials and provide more poise. Young center Kamilla Cardoso thinks the team needs to execute the little things better.
Most players are adamant that their troubles — the slow starts, the missed boxouts, the clanked three-pointers — are fixable.
At this point, however, talking about it won’t change much. The reality is that Marsh — handed a roster with lofty expectations and now reeling from eight losses in the last nine games — is on the hot seat.
And the only way for him to cool it off is to get the Sky back in the playoff hunt.
From where the Sky sit, having dug themselves a 12th-place hole, that climb looks daunting. It would mean stepping over the Mystics, Fire, Tempo and Sparks, none of whom appear to be slowing down. It would mean fixing the problems they’ve been talking about for weeks.
They can start by stringing together a .500 record for the rest of the month.
Victories against the Liberty, Wings and Aces won’t come easy, but they also play the Sun (15th) once and the Fire (ninth) twice. Break even in the next six games, and they could set themselves up for a hot stretch heading into the All-Star break.
Picture the Sky starting July at 7-12 with point guard Courtney Vandersloot back in the saddle. She has been practicing since June 5, so she could return in the next couple of weeks. If the Sky’s gnarliest issues really are execution and poise, the return of a floor general should provide some immediate relief.
If the Sky keep losing, though, then the pressure on Marsh will keep building. And it’s not the fun kind.
It makes no allowances for the fact this is Marsh’s first job as a head coach — at any level. Or that he has caught some tough breaks, losing the most important piece of the puzzle to a torn ACL two seasons in a row (Vandersloot last year and leading scorer Rickea Jackson this year). Or that his 10-34 record last season owed mostly to shoddy roster construction.
This is his first time getting his hands on the good clay, and he could use some time to learn from his mistakes.
In today’s WNBA, however, coaches aren’t given much time to master the wheel. Plus, the Sky’s own recent history — firing coach Teresa Weatherspoon after one losing season — looms over him.
Fair or not, the only way out is to win.