Quick Three: Valkyries 73 Sky 66
Chicago loses a gritty battle against Golden State in spite of some promising moments.
Still heavily shorthanded, the Sky were back in action on Friday night against fellow injury-strugglers Golden State, but a return to their home court—in theory—offered the Sky a solid chance to snap their skid. Let’s dive into where things went wrong, plus highlight the arrival of a new face in the Chicago lineup.
1. Poor Shot Selection Dooms Late Sky Surge
After an extended 18–4 run by Golden State saw the Sky hand away an eight-point lead late in the third quarter, it seemed like all hope might be lost—with the visitors leading by 8 at the five-minute mark and still up 5 with three minutes to play. But, to their credit, Chicago—even with an extremely short rotation—didn’t fold and kept fighting, eventually drawing as close as 1 after a cutting layup by Kamilla Cardoso with just over two minutes remaining in the game. The only problem? The rest of the Chicago lineup, after four consecutive scores by their bigs (Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams), seemed to forget that they had those interior options on their team—producing this in their remaining possessions:
01:45
[CHI] Banham Driving Layup Shot: Missed
01:07
[CHI] Banham 3pt Shot: Missed
00:44.3
[CHI] Nurse Turnover : (1 TO) Steal:Rupert (1 ST)
00:22.8
[CHI] Banham Jump Shot: Missed
00:19.2
[CHI] Allen 3pt Shot: Missed
00:08.4
[CHI] Banham Turnover : Bad Pass (4 TO) Steal:Burton (2 ST)
Couple that with an inexplicable foul by Banham down 3 with the shot clock still on, and it’s easy to see how a tight game slipped out of Chicago’s grasp in the dying seconds. Don’t get me wrong—it’s not easy to work the ball into the post in the final minutes of a game, especially when you’ve had recent success there—but it doesn’t excuse the Sky not really trying. Once down 5 with 34 seconds left, your hand is, to a certain extent, forced, but there were nearly two full minutes of game clock between the time Cardoso’s bucket cut the lead to 1 and the time it stretched to 5. In other words, Chicago had plenty of time to find the look they wanted and, despite some light attempts, largely settled for bad shots. With so few rotational options, this was always a game the Sky might lose, but it’s hard not to feel like chances were left on the table in the final minutes—especially given the solid performance of the two bigs (29 pts on 62% FG) compared to the other three starters (27 pts on 31% FG).
2. Uzun Mostly Impressive In Debut
If you only looked at the box score (2/6 FG, 1 AST) or watched the fourth quarter (not her best), you’d probably think Sevgi Uzun struggled in her first game since being signed after the Sky cut Moriah Jefferson. But if you watched the rest of the game, you’d likely get the impression that Uzun could give this team a good deal of what it needs at the perimeter—especially for as long as Ariel Atkins is out of the lineup. Thanks to her time in Turkey playing alongside a number of WNBA players with Fenerbahçe, she’s more than comfortable at the controls of an offense, and she showed the ability to consistently get downhill and collapse the defense into compromising positions—creating for herself and others once she arrived in those areas.
On defense, she didn’t do anything super eye-catching, but she’s more consistent and capable of staying in front of her matchup than either Rachel Banham or Kia Nurse have proven to be—with those responsible for protecting the back line likely happy to avoid having to jump to rotate and support a beaten guard on such a regular basis. Indeed, at halftime, Uzun had been a part of many of the Sky’s most positive moments—with her team-best +8 plus-minus in a tie game reflecting her positive contributions. The second half, however, was a different story, with Uzun struggling—especially in the fourth quarter—to provide the same downhill impact and finishing with a team-worst -12 in her 8 minutes. It was partly a case of wrong place at the wrong time, as things swung against the Sky in the rough stretch that bridged the third and fourth quarters, but she was also a definite contributing factor to a few of the negative moments as well.
Regardless, the positives that Uzun demonstrated are things that the Sky (1) have lacked from the point guard position ever since Courtney Vandersloot went down, (2) need from the perimeter with Atkins out, or both. As she gets more comfortable with those around her, expect Uzun to become an important part of the Sky’s rotation.
3. Complicated Line-Up Decisions Sneaking Up on Sky
It’s likely a small footnote in most recaps of today’s game, but Cardoso, in the midst of a solid all-around performance, took a serious physical beating late in the game. Angel Reese, when “healthy” in Tuesday’s game against Washington, also took some pretty serious impact from the Mystics’ bigs—with the question I’m leading to thus becoming quite obvious: At what point do the Sky start to look toward the future as their chances of making the 2025 WNBA playoffs evaporate?
In the case of Cardoso, there’s no reason to sit her down unless there’s an actual injury diagnosis, which, as of yet, we’ve not seen. But Reese is already hurt, and the fact that she’s now been in and out of the lineup could register as a little bit worrying, as it suggests that she’s (1) healthy enough to tough it out but also (2) not fully healed either. Back injuries especially have a tendency to come and go—meaning it’s totally reasonable that Reese could feel fine one day and be in pain the next. So, if it continues to be an on-and-off issue, would the Sky take matters into their own hands? I don’t know Reese personally, but I tend to think that such a competitive individual is unlikely to sit herself down—especially after having to miss the end of her rookie season due to an injury. Yet the Sky have little in the way of concrete future plans besides Reese and Cardoso, meaning if there’s any risk, you have to at least consider pulling the plug on this year.
Like last season, the other complicating factor is that this Sky team—especially as long as Atkins is out—is not very good and thus stands its best chance of winning when players like Reese and Cardoso, who do some of their best work on the glass, are in the trenches fighting for the ball. That style of basketball, while admirable, lends itself to more physical wear and tear, which again lends itself to questions about winding things down with no chance of anything but slightly worse lottery odds (on a pick the Sky don’t own the full rights to anyway). Personally, I’m never a big fan of shutting players down unless there’s an actual injury with serious long-term consequences (of which it’s hard to say whether Reese’s is at this point), as there’s no substitute for on-court time together. But I wonder (a bit like last season) what’s actually being learned from reps in an often dysfunctional system like the one that the Atkins- and Vandersloot-less Sky often put out.