When Tyler Marsh was introduced as head coach of the Sky in November of 2024, he shared a lesson from Las Vegas, where he won two championships as an assistant. To be successful in the W, you can’t just rely on your stars. You need others to get hot at the right time. Think Aces guard Riquna Williams’ 17 points in Game 4 of the 2022 Finals.
Marsh wanted to build a team where players 1 through 12 could make an impact.
This 2026 Sky roster is a solid attempt.
You could employ a starting five of Skylar Diggins, Natasha Cloud, Rickea Jackson, Azurá Stevens and Kamilla Cardoso — and still bring an all-time great in Courtney Vandersloot, plus two All-Defensive talents in DiJonai Carrington and Elizabeth Williams off the bench.
You’d also have your 2026 lottery pick, Gabriela Jaquez, and your best three-point shooter, Rachel Banham, to mix in.
That’s depth to be proud of. It’s just that the composition is a little uneven.
For starters, the balance between bigs and littles is skewed. The Sky have eight guards and four post players — and that’s if you count Jackson (6-foot-2) as a true post.
Won’t that leave them vulnerable on the interior?
“I don’t think you can go wrong with a lot of good guards, capable guards,” Marsh said Tuesday after practice. “It’s not like we’re just stock holding a bunch of players. It’s players that can contribute and we’re going to find ways to utilize them.”
Marsh isn’t short on ideas for how to make it work. Expect plenty of three-guard lineups. Expect the team to prioritize transition defense over offensive rebounding. Expect Cloud, a versatile defender, to match up on post players.
But what about the tension between Marsh’s offensive system, which relies on 3-point shooting, and the personnel?
The Sky added guards who can create shots and get to the rack, but only a few are known for spotting up and knocking down treys.
“I think we have some underrated shooters,” Marsh said. “We have players that you may not classify as shooters but have the ability to hit shots in big moments.”
Marsh emphasized that Diggins shot 36.5% from deep last season, almost four points above her career average. He also pointed out that Cloud lit the Sky up from deep in their home opener against the Liberty last season.
“We got some players that we trust that can make open shots,” Marsh said. “It’s about creating for them and putting them in position to feel confident to take and make those shots.”
Ultimately this is the outlook you want from your coach. You want them to see strengths in their players where others don’t. You want them to trust their own creativity and schemes to protect the team’s vulnerabilities.
Still — doesn’t anything concern the second-year coach ahead of the regular-season opener on Saturday? What are the top two worries keeping him up at night?
“Staying healthy, and staying healthy,” Marsh said Wednesday after practice.
Which is to be expected. Injuries derailed the Sky last year, and they’re off on the wrong foot again this season. Carrington and Vandersloot are both recovering from surgery and are weeks away from returning. And Stevens is still ramping back up from a knee injury at Unrivaled.
Funny how three injuries to key players throws cold water on that depth pretty fast.
Suddenly, the starting five might be Diggins, Cloud, Banham, Jackson, and Cardoso, with Williams and Jacy Sheldon first up off the bench. Not quite the same punch to it, but for now it will have to suffice.
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