Quick Three: Aces 77 Sky 75
Chennedy Carter's heroics not enough for Chicago as MVP elect Wilson sinks game winner as time expires.
Trying to summarize today’s game for someone who didn’t watch would be a nearly impossible task. From terrible basketball early to exceptional basketball late and everything in between, the Sky and the Aces gave the fans a show on Sunday at Wintrust Arena—even if sometimes it was hard to tell whether the word show was a complement or a criticism. Let’s try to unpack the good, the bad and the ugly of an insane basketball game that, unfortunately for the Sky, leaves them looking over their shoulder as the ninth-placed Dream prepare to host the Fever tomorrow night with a chance to jump level on record with the Sky if they claim victory over Caitlin Clark and company.
1. Chennedy Carter bounces back.
After a quiet second half on Friday night and an even quieter opening quarter of today’s rematch with a Las Vegas team she obliterated five weeks ago, Carter was the key protagonist of the Sky’s second half today—even if that meant she needed a quick breather late in the fourth quarter. Though her huge offensive influence and incredible shot-making late will understandably draw the lion’s share of the praise, it was Carter’s work at the defensive end which caught my eye most. Her energy and intensity was reflective of the Sky’s overall work as a collective and spoke to her continued maturation into a leader for this young Chicago team. The ability to keep that energy up even while carrying such a heavy burden offensively is something that even the game’s best players can sometimes struggle to do and Carter, while impactful defensively, has definitely had to take somewhat of a backseat at that end over the last few months in order to have enough left to guide the team’s offense. Today, she probably went a little too deep at both ends (hence the substitution late in the fourth quarter) to be able to sustain it for twenty consecutive minutes, but that’s a problem the Sky won’t have to worry about too much as, generally, she’d be due to get a rest at some point in each half anyways.
And even then, her ability to quickly recharge the batteries and deliver what looked, at least for a second, to be potential knockout punches on the Sky’s final two offensive possessions was impressive. The two three-pointers in the final minute of the game also subtly reinforced the Sky’s decision to roll with Carter as their closer on Friday when she was out of rhythm as she hit those back-to-back shots after watching from the bench for 4 minutes today. In order to earn a spot in the WNBA playoffs, the Sky will need a lot to go differently both early and late in games moving forward, but there should be zero doubt about where the ball goes when the game is on the line. In the biggest moments, Carter has all the tools needed to go and find a bucket and, today, she even showed an ability to hit shots that she’s otherwise struggled to make so far this season (20% 3PT before those two makes).
2. Head-scratching rotations costly once again.
I dove into the questionable rotational decisions (and seeming breakthrough) that the Sky had during Friday night’s game in Connecticut; so, I won’t revisit my disagreement with the way the team’s reserve guards are being used (though nothing changed with their usage today). However, there’s even more to wonder about after today’s game. Let’s take it in three distinct parts, each more head scratching than the one before:
Michaela Onyenwere’s role:
Onyenwere played 32:25 today; so, we’re past the days of her being frozen out of the rotation altogether. But in the first half, Onyenwere had already scored 10 points in the first 10:09 of the game before playing only two more minutes in the first half. In the end, that may have been the right choice as it gave her the stamina needed to play the entire second half, but it seems their must be better ways to divide out those minutes; so, a player who is having big impact for your offense doesn’t disappear for nearly an entire quarter (when the rest of the team shot just 25%).
Small-ball line-ups:
With the Aces playing relatively small, Kamilla Cardoso also sat for over 8 minutes in the second quarter. Again, that was perhaps a calculated move to allow her to play most of the second half, but the decision to not use Isabelle Harrison when the Brazilian sat seemingly contradicted the advantages the Sky are looking to create with the big roster they’ve built. Playing with two bigs against a Vegas team going small can create some defensive mismatches, but Angel Reese’s skills as a defender in space and on the perimeter mean you’re likely still gaining by staying big. For both Onyenwere and Cardoso, I disagree with the logic of a huge rest in the first half opening the door for a full second-half shift. The Sky need to have enough faith in at least 7 players to give short breathers where needed and not necessitate huge absences from the floor by key players.
Allen-Banham-Onyenwere-Reese-Cardoso line-up a no show until late:
After this group was (by my math) +13 in 11.5 minutes together on Friday, the Sky didn’t use it until the 4:35 mark in the fourth quarter. In the 3:47 that they played together before Carter replaced Onyenwere in the final minute, the Sky went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 6. In total, that five was +20 in 15 second-half minutes of two games this weekend that the Sky lost by a total of 4 points. Of course, different match-ups necessitate line-up innovations, but I can’t understand why it took so long to return to a group that had so much success less than 48 hours ago. Instead of giving the bench guards 5-6 minutes of largely anonymous run in the first half, the Sky could’ve tried this group for at least a few minutes and tried to recapture the energy they generated on Friday.
3. Reese & Cardoso flash defensive potential.
As extremely impressive as A’ja Wilson was at times today, there was also moments where the Sky’s rookie front court duo gave her some serious problems as well. The officiating, perhaps, did Chicago some favors (ultimately, I don’t think either team should be super happy with the calls today), but there was also some extremely clean rejections that Wilson—the league’s soon to be three-time Defensive Player of the Year—herself would be proud of. A lot of the focus, understandably, has been on the offensive development of Reese and Cardoso this season, but today was a great example of how far they’ve come defensively. The key, as it is at the offensive end, is continuing to play with confidence. While that confidence will hopefully fuel improvements at the offensive end, the confidence on defense is critical for empowering the duo to do what they’re already good at. Reese and Cardoso were, perhaps, the two best defensive players in the SEC a season ago, and they have the athletic tools and basketball IQ needed to be plus-defenders in the W as rookies. And in large part, they have been plus defenders. But, today’s game was well beyond ‘plus’ as the duo looked like a well-seasoned pair with their blend of timing, anticipation, coordination and organization at the defensive end. I praised Reese heavily in the pre-draft process for her work ‘captaining’ the LSU defense, and today’s game was an excellent reminder of just how well the twenty-two year old sees the floor. Meanwhile, Cardoso set a new career high with 5 rejections including a couple where she came from behind the play to record the block without fouling. The Sky, of course, need more efficiency inside from this duo (8/26 FG today) to improve their offensive numbers, but their 34 combined rebounds and 7 combined blocks went a long way towards holding the Aces more than 10 points and 9 free-throw attempts below their season averages.