The Sky will return from the FIBA World Cup break Sept. 17 to play the Mystics at home. They have only four regular-season games remaining and have already been eliminated from the playoffs.
So what’s at stake in the final stretch? Here are three things still hanging in the balance.
1. Coach Tyler Marsh’s job
It’s certainly possible that general manager Jeff Pagliocca has already made up his mind about Marsh, one way or the other. But if he’s still evaluating, securing a few more victories could go a long way toward bolstering Marsh’s case to return for a third season.
Picture the Sky sweeping their final four games. (You’ll really have to stretch your imagination here, given that their longest winning streak of the season is three games.) If they did it, though, they’d end the season with a record of 19-25.
That would mean Marsh nearly doubled his win total from his first season. It would mean the Sky beat six of the eight playoff teams. And it would demonstrate an impressive ability to keep the team motivated even after its playoff hopes flamed out.
Of course, a strong finish wouldn’t erase the games the Sky blew during the heart of the season, which derailed their chances of making the playoffs.
It may simply be too little, too late. Pagliocca has made it clear throughout the season that he believes the roster was strong enough to make the playoffs, even with all the injuries, meaning Marsh may have to bear the responsibility for falling short.
2. Course correction from the rookies
There will be more minutes for the youngsters in the final stretch, according to Marsh, which should be good news for Gabriela Jaquez, the Sky’s No. 5 pick in the draft.
Jaquez came onto the scene hot, looking like an All-Rookie selection through her first 15 starts. Then she got buried in the rotation as veterans returned from injury, and she never quite looked like the same player. More minutes should give her a chance to prove that, with the right opportunity, she can be the scrappy, dynamic wing she appeared to be from the start.
Rookie Sydney Taylor should benefit from more minutes, too. Taylor, the Sky’s breakout star of the season, has struggled to find her stroke since suffering a groin injury and being placed on a minutes restriction. But she returned from the FIBA break feeling healthy, and Marsh thinks she’ll be able to handle something closer to her previous workload.
3. Proving they can compete with the Mystics
Marsh and Pagliocca have maintained all season that their young core of Taylor, Jaquez, Kamilla Cardoso and the injured Rickea Jackson is on par with the playoff-bound Mystics’.
They’ll have a chance to prove it at home on the 17th, and again on the road on the 24th.
The Mystics whomped the Sky the first time they met in May. The Sky were mired in a five-game losing streak and played disorganized, uninspired basketball. It was a troubling display of the divergent paths the two teams are on.
A year ago, the Sky and Mystics were in basically the same position: struggling teams with some promising young players. This year, the Mystics have completely turned things around. They are 24-16 and currently hold the No. 7 seed, while the Sky are once again on the outside looking in.
Are the Sky really just a few tweaks and turns away from joining the Mystics? Actually competing with them would lend some credibility to that idea.