The Sparks’ Lynne Roberts was the first coach to get the ax after the WNBA’s regular season ended. She was fired Friday.
Given that the Sky’s recent disappointments have resembled the Sparks’, one has to wonder: Will coach Tyler Marsh suffer the same fate?
The Sky lost their final game Thursday, finishing the season 16-28. During Marsh’s postgame news conference, amid the usual flood of emotions brought about by the end of a season, there was also an added sense that his future hung in the balance.
It can’t be a comfortable moment for Marsh, 38.
He told the Sun-Times recently that, for a longtime NBA assistant who found a greater purpose in the WNBA, leading this team is his dream come true.
The question is whether that feeling is reciprocated from the top.
Marsh’s exit meeting with the higher-ups is scheduled for Saturday morning.
When asked Thursday why he’s the right person to lead the organization into its next chapter, he was characteristically deferential.
‘‘We’ve been able to see some level of improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, but it’s less about me stating my case and just letting you know that I love this team,’’ he said. ‘‘I love being the head coach of this team. I don’t take it for granted or lightly.
‘‘I’ve hoped to have had some impact on our players and our community and our fan base and our front office and our support staff, and I’ll let the chips fall where [they] may.
‘‘I’m not the decision-maker. If I’m back, I will continue to give it my all. And if I’m not, then that’s the decision that is made, and I will be grateful for the two years that I’ve had.’’
Surely, Marsh has noticed the warning signs coming from above. General manager Jeff Pagliocca has held fast to his belief that injuries shouldn’t have prevented a playoff appearance, which implicates Marsh.
The Sky’s history of churn also looms over him. If Marsh is let go, it would represent the Sky’s eighth coaching change since their founding in 2005, tied with the Sparks for the most during that period.
Will support from his players help buck that trend?
During their exit interviews Friday, players reiterated their usual praise. Marsh helped to facilitate a positive locker-room environment and cares deeply about the team. He has a talent for drawing up plays out of timeouts and putting people in positions to succeed.
Those are real compliments, but none of his stars was exactly pounding the table in his favor, either. The strongest defense came from veteran Natasha Cloud, who pointed out that Marsh deserves grace as a second-year coach and inherited a ‘‘s— show’’ when he arrived in Chicago.
Then she stated the obvious: This decision is way above her pay grade.
It’s clearly one the organization needs to get right. They’ve got a nice young core in Rickea Jackson, Kamilla Cardoso and Sydney Taylor and roster continuity to capitalize on next season. But Cloud’s ‘‘s— show’’ comment should remind everyone that the roots of the Sky’s dysfunction extend beyond Marsh and that real change will require a collective effort.
Marsh alluded to that when he was asked Thursday about the biggest step forward the organization took this season.
‘‘I think that in order for us to move forward as an organization, there has to be a realization of what has held us back,’’ he said. ‘‘There has to be our own self-reflection and evaluation organizationally, so that we can understand how to attract and address things moving forward.
‘‘So I think that being able to have those hard conversations behind the scenes will serve as the turning point going forward.’’
Marsh might not be willing to make a fuss about why he deserves to return for a third season, but good for him for not letting the higher-ups off the hook, either.