Quick Three: Mystics 103 Sky 86
Chicago fades out of the game after a strong performance in the first half in Washington.
Even this “early” in the season, tonight’s game was, in many respects, a must-win for the Sky—who are chasing the Mystics (among others) in the race for the final playoff spots. As each game passes, the path to the postseason grows increasingly difficult, and tonight’s loss was no exception. Let’s dive into where things went wrong—and explore how the Sky might tweak their usage of their two young stars in the games ahead.
1. Sky Struggle to Keep Up With Leaky Defense
If you’ve ever lived in an older building during a heatwave like the one currently hitting the Chicago area, you’ve probably experienced a day where the air conditioning just can’t keep up. It runs and runs, the air at the vent feels decently cool, but the system simply can’t handle the extreme heat. The Sky’s offense tonight? A bit like your trusty (but ultimately unhelpful) old thermostat. Despite decent output (86 pts), reasonable efficiency (45% FG), and slightly improved ball protection (12 TOs), it just wasn’t enough to keep up with what the Mystics were able to produce.
And unlike an overheating homeowner who can blame the uncontrollable, the Sky—unfortunately—have themselves partially to blame for the Mystics’ fantastic efficiency (51/42 splits). Washington, to their credit, continues to move incredibly well off the ball (I remain genuinely impressed—and somewhat surprised—by what Sydney Johnson has done in his first year as head coach). But from early on, the Sky’s defense had obvious holes that Washington had clearly prepared to exploit. Against weaker perimeter lineups, the Mystics took full advantage of mismatches created by switches (Banham and Nurse were no match for Austin and Iriafen). And when the Sky sent extra help inside to support their guards, Washington did a good job of recycling the ball out to the perimeter, where Sonia Citron (5/6 3PT) and others continued to knock down shots.
The end result is that the Sky’s offense had to be virtually perfect to keep up—and there simply isn’t enough talent on the floor right now to expect that kind of perfection. Unless they can build a reasonable cushion (like running that old A/C overnight before the heat hits) early in games, the Sky are left playing catch-up with their own defense, and the game slowly slips away—just as it did tonight.
2. Reese Returns But, Perhaps, Asked a Bit Too Much
Angel Reese showed little to no physical rust in her return from injury, but with Ariel Atkins still out of the lineup, she was asked to do a great deal—and, as a result, struggled from an efficiency standpoint (6/16 FG). Her bright moments—of which there were still plenty (22 pts)—aligned with some of the Sky’s most dynamic offensive actions. But the fact that so much of the offense required the ball to be in her hands was, at least on this night, perhaps a bit too taxing. As has been the case over the last two months, her touches off the dribble posed clear problems for the defense at times, mixing in some playmaking (3 asts) and flashes of nice post scoring touch.
However, it didn’t happen often enough to consistently keep the Mystics' defense under pressure—partly because there weren’t enough other threats to distract them. With so much of the ball in Reese’s hands and so few consistent options around her, it becomes relatively easy for the opposition to key in on defending a player who can only either (1) drive or (2) pass to someone else (who then has to create a look on their own). Earlier in the season, I often urged Tyler Marsh to get the ball in Reese’s hands higher up the court more regularly. But the reality now is that the ball might be in her hands away from the basket too much. Not because she’s incapable of doing something with it, but because there aren’t enough other threats to keep the defense honest—forcing her to be hyper-efficient just to keep an offense so dependent on her touches afloat.
I’m not saying the Sky should take away many of her touches, but adding a few more off-ball actions or post-ups each game could introduce some variety and help get the defense out of shape. Granted, until Atkins returns, the overall balance of the offense is unlikely to improve.
3. Cardoso’s Number Improves But More Can Be Done
After some solid but less explosive offensive play in the seven games since returning from AmeriCup (10.7 PPG), I was ready to call for the Sky to get Cardoso more involved if she finished around 10 points again tonight. But a strong performance throughout the game allowed her to notch her first 20-point outing since that dominant 27-point game against the Sparks on June 24, just before departing for national team duty. That said, it’s still fair to say that—despite her solid output (21 pts) and efficiency (8/16 FG)—the Sky haven’t quite tapped into Cardoso’s full potential the way they did in that standout performance against L.A. (27 pts, 10/15 FG).
The question, then, is whether the issue lies in the opportunities the Sky are creating for Cardoso, the lack of threats around her (the same problem affecting Reese), something missing in Cardoso’s own play, or a combination of all three. It’s hard to say for certain without rewatching the full tape from the last few games—and, in truth, all factors likely play a role—but I feel confident saying the coaching staff hasn’t been getting her involved the way they did in that game against L.A. If you rewind to that point, Cardoso’s elevated involvement felt like a direct response to her quiet outing just two days earlier against Atlanta (7 points on 3-of-4 shooting). But it shouldn’t require things dropping that low for another adjustment to be made.
Indeed, while the Sky are still working on maximizing Reese’s performance, her role appears both consistent and, for the most part, aligned with her strengths. With Cardoso, it’s harder to say the coaching staff has a clear understanding of how to best utilize her—and if they do, there’s little consistency in how they go about it. Again, the absence of key players—especially Atkins and Vandersloot—contributes to the difficulty of establishing much offensively. Still, there’s no reason Cardoso’s touches and involvement should fluctuate as much as they have. Finding a consistent role for her—in spite of the surrounding pieces being perpetually in motion—should be a key goal for the remainder of the season.