The Chicago Sky opened their season with a win and a loss on the road against the Dallas Wings.
While it’s uncommon to open the season with consecutive games against the same opponent, facing the same team twice in four days offered an early look at how new coach Teresa Weatherspoon will make adjustments — and how this Sky roster will adapt to adversity.
Here are four takeaways from the first two games:
1. Angel Reese is active on the boards.
Reese quickly made it clear that her rebounding dominance will translate to the WNBA. She finished her first week as a pro averaging 8.5 boards, which ranked 11th in the league and first among rookies through Sunday. Most impressively, Reese led the league with six offensive rebounds per game.
Those numbers will inevitably fluctuate as the season wears on, but the initial splash showed that Reese is prepared to compete for rebounds with tough competitors such as the Wings’ Teaira McCowan and Natasha Howard.
It’s also clear after two outings that there’s plenty of room for improvement for Reese, who’s shooting 34.8% from the field. Spot-up shooting is a key area of focus for Reese, so a low percentage isn’t completely unexpected. But she’s shooting 38.9% within 5 feet, a range where she’s expected to show efficiency.
Although she showed flashes of her potential as a defender, Reese did not block a shot in her first two games. Perhaps most disappointing was Reese’s 46.7% free-throw shooting, which seemed uncharacteristic after she shot 70.4% in college.
None of this is concerning for a player with 52 minutes of professional basketball under her belt. But as she continues to make an impact on the boards, Reese has plenty of opportunities for growth to round out her game.
2. Marina Mabrey’s outside shooting is crucial.
Mabrey’s 16.5 points per game leads the team, a trend that likely will continue throughout the season. She trailed only Kahleah Copper in scoring last season, when Mabrey averaged 15 points, and the Sky will need her to step up even further in Copper’s absence.
A key to Mabrey’s production is how she gets her shots.
The Sky have made the second-fewest 3-pointers (4.5 per game) in the league and taken the third-fewest attempts (19 per game). Mabrey accounted for five of their nine 3s over the first two games — and took nearly half of their attempts (18).
The departures of Copper and Courtney Williams left the Sky strapped for shooting threats behind the arc. They attempted to address that weakness by drafting Brynna Maxwell with the 13th pick, but a preseason knee injury prevented her from making the opening roster. Dana Evans could help buoy outside shooting after lifting her 3-point percentage to 40% over the last two seasons, but her role as the primary ballhandler limits her ability to create shots behind the arc.
As it stands, Mabrey’s shooting will represent the bulk of the Sky’s 3-point production. While the Sky led the league in scoring in the paint (44 points per game) over their first two games, finding some balance is vital to maintaining paint production. Without Mabrey’s threat on the perimeter, opponents would be able to pack the paint to minimize the Sky’s offensive strength.
3. Elizabeth Williams is a defensive anchor.
Speaking of the paint, the Sky are clearly set to dominate down low with the combination of Reese and Williams, who picked up where she left off with six blocks during the opening week and a staggering 10 stocks (steals plus blocks) in Saturday’s win over the Wings.
Although her impact isn’t always flashy, Williams is a cornerstone of the Sky because of her defensive impact. They were in the top five in defensive rating in the opening week — albeit against the same team, so the figure did not reflect the defense’s versatility — and Williams was the key to that performance, establishing early rim protection that helped the Sky set the pace and run hard in transition.
While their guard and wing depth remains a looming question mark, the Sky are stacked with consistent frontcourt defenders. That will only improve with the return of Isabelle Harrison (knee) and Kamilla Cardoso (shoulder), who is expected to be back in mid-June.
The next step for Williams is improving her offensive impact. She shot 40.9% from the field against the Wings and went 6-for-9 from the line after shooting 63% on free throws last season. While the Sky don’t rely heavily on Williams for scoring, improving on the margins in this area of her game could help elevate the team’s offense as it focuses on owning the paint this season.
4. Where Angel Reese goes, attention will follow
No, this isn’t a pure basketball takeaway — but the last week illustrated how pervasive Reese’s image already has become in pop culture, extending far beyond the typical reach of a WNBA rookie.
Whether she’s getting Latto to pull up courtside on the road or bringing her teammates onstage during a Megan Thee Stallion concert at the United Center, Reese brings a new sheen of celebrity to the Sky.
Angel Reese weighed in during media day on which celebrities she’d still like to meet: Michael Jordan and Megan Thee Stallion.
Crossed one of those off her list today, MJ is up next. pic.twitter.com/vAUjoCMESl
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) May 20, 2024
This was perhaps best encapsulated by her inclusion alongside Cardoso in a commercial for the NBA Finals, which showed the pair quipping, “Champs only,” while placing imaginary crowns on their heads.
Chicago Sky rookie stock at an all-time high https://t.co/P7q3oMhKdk pic.twitter.com/MnlmR9g8tg
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) May 19, 2024
And that’s just Week 1. Plenty of time left for the rookie to make more waves, starting with Saturday’s home opener against the Connecticut Sun.
