Quick Three: Sky 92 Sparks 78
The return of Chennedy Carter and a standout game by Angel Reese inspire a Chicago sweep of the season series with Los Angeles.
The Sky got back in the win column at the perfect time after Washington won in Phoenix last night and Atlanta beat the Wings at home tonight—with Chennedy Carter’s return to the line-up providing a much-needed boost. With another key game against Dallas less than forty-eight hours away, let’s dive right into all that went well for Chicago in a statement win on their home floor tonight.
1. Lessons learned without Carter boost offense.
Carter returned to the line-up like she never left, but that shouldn’t be a huge surprise after she returned from her initial bout with illness to put up a few top performances including her late game show against Las Vegas last month. What was more notable, however, was the extra layers of offense that we saw from the Sky tonight as Carter returned to her ball-dominant role while also ensuring Michaela Onyenwere and Kamilla Cardoso could still closely resemble the roles they took on in her absence. Granted, Cardoso and Onyenwere only took 15 combined shots, and there’s definitely more value to be had by getting them more looks but that balance takes more time. Just getting all of the key pieces (which includes Angel Reese and Lindsay Allen as well) valuable touches in the normal flow of the offense is a step forward compared to some past games, and the results were telling. All five starters shot 40%—with the group combining for 69 points at a 54% clip from the field.
Of course, it’s worth noting this is all against one of the league’s worst defenses, and it’s not the first time we’ve seen a match-up with LA lead to bigger scoring. Even then, this feels different than the previous meeting on August 17th—which had represented the Sky’s most recent win and 90-point outing before tonight. Reason being, the trio of Onyenwere, Allen and Cardoso (as discussed at length in past blogs) has found additional chemistry with Carter out, and the high-scoring guard has shown the ability to play unselfishly with that trio even while being as selfish as the Sky need her to be to keep scoring. Meanwhile, it seems that Carter has an extra dash of chemistry with Angel Reese, and the gravity that the guard has in possession helped create some high-percentage looks tonight for the LSU grad. In short, Carter’s supporting cast got better with the increased responsibility left in her absence, but it’s still the former Sparks guard who helps tie everything together in the most effective way possible. The games ahead, of course, should test the team’s progress a lot more sternly than tonight, but the lessons learned about other personnel during Carter’s absence could ultimately pay dividends for the final stretch of this season and as the front office plans for 2025 and beyond.
2. Patient Angel Reese is the best Angel Reese.
I’ve said this before, but I just get the feeling that Reese is always at her best when she’s letting the game come to her. And, it’s simple really. Because of the style of game she plays (particularly her abilities as an offensive rebounder), she has virtually no need to consistently manufacture offensive opportunities. If she plays the game naturally, the ball will come to her in scoring areas on a semi-regular basis because of her otherworldly ability to collect offensive rebounds. That’s not to say there’s not value in the Sky trying to work to her via a post-up or the pick-and-roll (which was strong with Carter tonight), but with all the other scoring options available to Chicago, it’s perfectly okay for Reese to take a back seat while Carter, Onyenwere and Cardoso get their looks. And in a weird way, it seems like Reese gets more volume (and certainly more efficiency) when she takes a “backseat.” Tonight was, in that way, reminiscent of her 27-point outing against Seattle on July 5th (s/o to those that reminded me of this game). After that game, I gave very similar analysis to what I’m saying here, and it’s a feeling that I think will become common as Angel grows into her role and gains more experience at the WNBA level.
Simply put (and with no disrespect to anyone else on the team), this should be the worst supporting cast Reese has in her WNBA career. Even if the players are talented, most don’t have the specific skills (i.e. shooting) needed to maximize what Reese, Carter and Cardoso are best at, and the front office now has a pretty clear directive to go and recruit players that can plug those holes this winter. If (or when) they do add those types of players around the core trio (or core 4 with Onyenwere likely to be retained), there should be even less need for Reese to score. Less need for scoring means even more focus on defense and rebounding (two things she’s already very good at). And with an extra focus on rebounding, there should be even more chances for easy scores after offensive boards. So, in a roundabout way, Reese can sometimes score more with less direct touches coming her way. Also interesting was that, once she did get going off of the second chance scores tonight, she also improved with the plays that were called for her. When she finds those waves of momentum, that’s a green light for the Sky to play through her more, and that’s the role she’ll likely excel in long term. If she becomes a high-usage offensive focal point, even better, but she brings so much to the team that she can have streaks of just 2-3 minutes during the game where she’s the primary option and still score 15 or 20 a game by cleaning up others’ misses and winning the race to the key loose balls.
3. Everyone does their part.
Reese, deservedly, gets a lot of praise, but virtually everyone who played tonight had a positive impact. Rachel Banham hit three of her six attempts from three, Diamond DeShields continued her strong stretch of recent play, and Isabelle Harrison—despite finishing with just 4 points—played some very good first-half minutes in what was, at the time, a back-and-forth game. Perhaps, a shorter rotation was partially to thank for the bench’s success—as just eight players got substantial minutes outside of garbage time—but it’s also important to note how Carter’s return changes the overall dynamic by returning Banham to the bench group. With her shooting, Banham is a player that changes up the looks for the opposing defense when she checks in, but she’s just not nearly as much of a threat when she’s one of the first five names on the scouting report (in place of the high-usage, high-production Carter no less).
DeShields, on the other hand, seems to be thriving off a bit more consistency with her role—something that can only truly happen with the number of players in the rotation reduced. Shimmy Gray-Miller adeptly mentioned it on the broadcast tonight—DeShields plays her best in the half-court when she’s not thinking too much. Whether or not the big rotation and fierce battle for even 5 or 6 minutes a night was causing DeShields to think too hard before making a decision is impossible to say, but she certainly looked a lot freer and more assertive with her decision making tonight. When she’s operating in that frame of mind, the athletic tools DeShields has make her very hard to stop on her way to the basket, and the only other tweak she can look to make now is to avoid settling for threes (she was 1/3 tonight) as she’s at just 17.6% in ‘24. Harrison, meanwhile, just needs time on the court. Cardoso and Reese are fantastic, but the Sky need a third big to occasionally give them a breather if they want to extend their season into the playoffs. When she’s been on court, Harrison has largely fit nicely alongside the rest of this Sky roster, and tonight was no different. Ten minutes a game isn’t the role the veteran probably wants, but it’s enough to help her establish some rhythm and be more effective when she spells the rookies.