Quick Three: Wings 87 Sky 79
Chicago showed a lot of promise in the first game of their new era but Dallas simply had too much experience in the end.
Chicago fans will have to wait to get their first regular season look at top pick Kamilla Cardoso in a Sky jersey, but the rest of the franchise’s new faces made their long-awaited (though in the case of Angel Reese not too long) debuts in Wednesday night’s season opener against the Wings. And while game one of the trip to Dallas didn’t produce the desired result, the Sky and new coach Teresa Weatherspoon have a lot of great tape to reflect on before their next game on Saturday—also at the Wings’ College Park Center. Before we look ahead to that contest, let’s reflect on some learnings from tonight’s performance that could have an impact in game two and beyond.
1. It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish
I mentioned after the Sky’s win over New York in the preseason that, in a regular season setting, the early blitz they produced may not have been enough to seal the victory. And tonight, Chicago’s opening burst ultimately didn’t prove quite enough to get by an opponent who was locked in through the final buzzer—not rotating through back of the roster players. That said, there’s no shame in the Sky lacking experience compared to a Dallas group that not only has a lot of cumulative WNBA experience but, for the most part, has a lot of experience playing together. When games get tight in the fourth quarter, you simply have to execute, and the Sky don’t have as much chemistry nor as many veteran aces up their sleeve as the Wings do in that setting. One of those aces—Natasha Howard—was impactful on the glass where, after a fast start, the Sky got out rebounded 42-37 while the paint scoring differential (60-42) was even more slanted for Dallas.
Given Chicago’s absences in the post and the turnstile of bigs Latricia Trammell can call on year after year, none of this should come as a great surprise. Indeed, the Wings had similar advantages in both categories at halftime, and the Sky still managed to find a way to go to the locker room up 3. The difference late, then, was the three-point shooting. The Sky had made 5 threes at a 42% clip at the break but hit none of the five attempts they took after the break. On the other side, Dallas shot 4/7 from long range after a slow first half with second-year standout Maddy Siegrist hitting a crucial one to put the Wings up 5 with two minutes to go. On the ensuing possession, the Sky rushed and settled for a spot-up three from Dana Evans with 19 seconds left on the shot clock. In a two possession game with plenty of time (1:51) remaining, those types of shots don’t have to happen like they do when there’s less than a minute remaining. Between a couple of other rushed spot-up shots and a handful of offensive possessions where the ball-handler had blinders on and lost sight of their teammates before committing a turnover, there’s some easy things the Sky can clean up to improve their offensive efficiency moving forward. On this particular night, it’s very important to give credit to Dallas whose activity and energy on the defensive end was just as key to the Sky’s 36-point second-half as any self-inflicted issues.
2. Debutants Weatherspoon + Reese Elevate Each Other
After your first game as a WNBA player or head coach, there will always be areas for improvement. However, it’s safe to say that there was a lot to like from both first-round pick and new head coach this evening. And crucially, the duo—who figure to be two of the leading faces for the Sky’s next decade if all goes well—helped each other to be more successful. After a tough first half where Reese struggled at the line and couldn’t get anything going offensively, Weatherspoon ran a set for her immediately out of halftime. Reese scored her first basket, and there was a marked improvement to her performance from that point on. Her activity on defense picked up, she got in the mix on the glass (8 r), and there was a night and day difference between her confidence with the ball in hand. Don’t get me wrong; Dallas’ front line still made things very difficult and Reese shot just 5/14 on her way to a 12 point debut. However, the difference in her play before and after that stabilizing bucket at the start of the half could, on many nights, have been the difference between Chicago winning and losing this game. That’s a subtle thing, but that’s great coaching—especially for a young player.
Elsewhere, I thought Weatherspoon coached a very, very impressive first game. It’s always difficult to tell a coach’s tactical impact based on one single game so I won’t venture down that path too much, but Weatherspoon’s rotations and game management felt up to the task immediately. She started with a line-up that, in spite of Reese’s slow start, looked comfortable together, and she made the most of the vertically limited roster she had available without Cardoso and Isabelle Harrison. Early on in the game, the Sky went to a three-guard lineup which had its moments but largely struggled against Dallas’ imposing size. When Trammell forced Weatherspoon’s hand by putting a third big on the floor alongside Howard and Teaira McCowan, she responded with a line-up led by two bigs and a proper wing that could hold its own and—after a dominant period in the middle stages of the first half—the Wings’ edge on the glass largely held steady between +5 and +10 from that point forward. When she eventually returned to three guard line-ups in the second half, Weatherspoon was careful to ensure there was two bigs on the floor—avoiding a difficult-to-win mismatch with Michaela Onyenwere battling Howard in the process.
3. Mabrey + DeShields Lead Mixed Coverage of Arike
I mentioned in my series preview how the match-up with Arike Ogunbowale could hint at the Sky’s defensive plans on the perimeter for the rest of the season, and this was another area where I liked how Weatherspoon managed the game. Instead of sticking with one player on Ogunbowale throughout the game, Weatherspoon sent a lot of different looks her way early. Some review of the film over the next couple of days will give some exact numbers, but each of the Sky’s three starters on the perimeter (Evans, Mabrey, DeShields) chipped in with early coverage on the Wings’ superstar. And at points, each of those three was very successful in limiting what Ogunbowale was able to do. After three quarters, Ogunbowale was just 4/16 and Mabrey, in particular, had really excelled in forcing her into difficult shots. However, in the fourth quarter, Ogunbowale simply came alive. She made 6/7 FG and continued her passing barrage (7 ast) which was a constant throughout the game—even when the shots weren’t falling early. Throwing different looks is all a coach can do against a great scorer and the level of effort those three gave is all Weatherspoon could ask for. Try as Mabrey might have, some of the bucket-getting by Ogunbowale in the fourth was simply unstoppable. As such, there’s few adjustments the Sky can make in that regard before Saturday’s rematch in Dallas.
All that said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t briefly hone in on the two-way impact that both Mabrey and DeShields had throughout the course of the game. Mabrey was every bit of the domineering player we’ve seen overseas and looked in complete control of the offense with her tempo (though, of course, there is always room for better efficiency as she shot 6/16 FG and 2/7 3PT). At the defensive end, she was engaged and committed just one foul all night—suggesting she toed the line well between being active and overactive. Tasked with the Ogunbowale assignment for virtually the entirety of the fourth quarter, she held her own—suggesting that she can be a more than viable option against superstar perimeter players as the season wears on. DeShields—more than any other individual—was key to the Sky’s fast start. She looked decisive in the half-court—successfully pairing her typical aggression going to the basket with decent shot selection from behind the arc (though they didn’t fall) while her impact defensively was grounded on her length and persistence getting to the ball—especially in the possessions she was matched up with Ogunbowale. If I had to hazard a guess, she was on some kind of minutes restriction and the fast start meant she blew through most of that in the first-half while she was hot, but I’d expect (if that’s the case) we see a lot more of her minutes allocated to the fourth quarter on Saturday. All in all, such a solid start from DeShields after a year out due to injury bodes well for her outperforming expectations with the Sky this season.