In the aftermath of two blowout losses to begin the season and his head-coaching career, the Sky’s Tyler Marsh has been grasping for positives.
He has talked about his “constant belief” in Angel Reese and the rest of the players, his assessment that the ball movement and shot selection have looked good at times and that the bench has made contributions.
His emphasis has consistently been optimism and a commitment to establishing the style of play he envisions for the long run.
“Three weeks and two games in together, it’s tough to be a championship-caliber team,” he said. “For us, it’s always been about creating those standards. It’s something we build toward. I talk to our team all the time about not playing to a score, but playing to a standard of who we want to be. That’s how we gauge our success in the short term.”
Can’t blame Marsh for looking at the upside. That’s his job. But the cold, hard numbers on how the Sky have played so far are jarring.
They set a WNBA record by losing their first two games by a total of 60 points, they’ve shot a dreadful 32.4% so far and turned the ball over 40 times. They aren’t scoring in the paint, one of their few strengths last season, and aren’t making up for that from the three-point line. Defensively, they struggled to keep up with opponents on the perimeter and in transition.
Promises and pleading for patience are part of the Chicago sports tradition, but that message wears thin. The Sky can’t keep measuring progress in amorphous terms. They need results soon, and there’s a good opportunity to produce them starting Sunday against the Sparks in Los Angeles.
“We’re going to keep it moving,” point guard Courtney Vandersloot said. “We didn’t think it was going to come all perfect together the first two games. We’re not panicking. We’re in a good place mentally. We’ve just got to make some adjustments and figure things out.”
The Sky will visit the Sparks and Mercury this week, then host and visit the Wings. It’s a four-game stretch against teams that all finished under .500 last season, and the Sparks were the worst team in the league at 8-32.
That’s a much different level of competition than facing the Liberty, who won the championship last season, and the Fever, who are a contender for it this season.
The fastest way for the Sky to get on track is to get Reese rolling offensively after totaling 14 points on 5-for-22 shooting over the first two games.
Marsh has been working to expand her footprint in the offense by stretching her shooting range and giving her more opportunities to drive and create from the perimeter. Making her more of a focal point of the offense might ignite her.
It also would free up space for three-point shooters like Vandersloot, Kia Nurse, Ariel Atkins and Rebecca Allen. If everything syncs up perfectly, the Sky would have a balanced offense with Reese and Kamilla Cardoso in the paint and shooters around the outside, opening up space for everyone.
That’s particularly important when it comes to Atkins, who can be a versatile offensive player if given the chance.
“She’s someone that we’ve got to continue to find ways to space the floor to allow her to operate in space,” Marsh said.
His main adjustment so far was playing rookie Hailey Van Lith as the No. 2 point guard Thursday against the Liberty, allowing Rachel Banham to play shooting guard. Banham has started the season 7 for 13 on three-pointers and leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points in just 17 minutes per game.
Shifting her to shooting guard has been a plus, but it’s not a game-changer. That has to come from players like Reese, Cardoso and Vandersloot, and the Sky need it to come quickly.