The Chicago Sky enters Thursday night’s matchup against the Dallas Wings looking to earn their first victory of the season. Much has gone wrong for the Sky during their 0-4 start to 2025.
The offense was sluggish in the first three contests, failing to score 80 points until they were defeated 94-89 by the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night. The defense, especially around the perimeter, has been porous.
One of the main issues on offense has been ball control. The Sky lead the league in turnovers per game at 18.3 per contest. Angel Reese is the main culprit, averaging 4.3 turnovers per game.
Angel Reese has a turnover problem
As Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune points out, Reese and Kia Nurse are the only starters on the team averaging more turnovers than assists.
“The Sky are the most mistake-prone team in the WNBA,” Poe wrote. “They average 19 turnovers per game and give up 19.8 points off those errors. Only four Sky players — Courtney Vandersloot, Kamilla Cardoso, Ariel Atkins and Hailey Van Lith, who has played limited minutes because of injury — are averaging more assists than turnovers.”
Reese is averaging nearly twice as many turnovers as assists, as she averages 2.3 assists per night.
Are the Chicago Sky comfortable with the new offense?
Poe thinks the reason for the unusual number of turnovers is that players are not comfortable with first-year head coach Tyler Marsh’s system.
“But much of the Sky’s turnover problem seems to reflect a teamwide discomfort within the offensive system,” Poe wrote. “The Sky are one of the fastest-paced teams in the league, but this insistence on pushing the pace often leads to miscalculated passes up the court that squander transition opportunities before they begin.”
Reese is being asked to take on a new role in the offense. She’s playing more point forward, a task that appears to be a burden for the second-year player in the early season.
Chicago will have to decide if the early troubles are growing pains or if they need to adjust their play to better fit Reese’s limited talents (at least for now).
Poe thinks the nature of the Sky’s offense will naturally cause turnovers to happen, but the team can manage to win games if they keep that number down to 14 or fewer per contest.
Given that Reese is averaging 31% shooting, 2.3 assists, and 4.3 turnovers per game, it might be time for the Sky to reconsider putting and keeping the six-foot-three, 165 forward in the post.
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‘Huge rebounds’: Chicago Sky coach defends Angel Reese’s poor shooting night
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