Sky Notebook: Postseason chances becoming slim
The Chicago Sky (11-21) went 0-3 on the week, making it 6 straight losses for the Sky — the longest losing streak of the season.
The Sky are now tied with the Atlanta Dream for the No. 8 in the WNBA standings.
The Sky have been without Chennedy Carter all week due to health and safety protocols. She is listed as day-to-day as she aims to make a return to the court.
With this losing streak, the path towards the postseason may be coming to an end sooner than the team would like.
Turnovers are the Achilles’ heel
The Chicago Sky’s 3 losses this week all had one thing in common: a high turnover rate.
Against Washington, the Sky gave up 21 points off a season-high 23 turnovers in the 74-70 loss on August 28.
In the August 30, 100-81 loss to Indiana, it was 24 points off 15 turnovers.
To wrap up the week, the Sky allowed 25 points off 21 turnovers in their 79-74 loss to Minnesota on September 1.
“Honestly, I don’t know if it’s just a means of how aggressive the other team is being. I feel like sometimes it comes from a different area every single game,” Michaela Onyenwere said after the Minnesota game. “Whether it’s trying to get the ball to post, making lackluster decisions, throwing the ball out of bounds, kind of not being on the same page with our teammates.
“So I don’t know honestly. It really is something that has been our Achilles’ heel since post All-Star break. All we can do is really get better from it. Be a little bit more focused and just be more on the same page when running our offenses.”
The Sky have preached valuing the basketball and each possession. The team hasn’t put up this high of a turnover ratio since June. They are in the bottom half of the league with an average of 15.6 turnovers a game since August 11.
What the Sky were able to do in June and July was limit the points scored off turnovers. That has not been the case here in the second half of the WNBA season with Chicago giving up the most points off turnovers in the league with 20.5 points per game since August 11.
Rookie development the lone bright spot
While the push towards the playoffs is now limited, the developmental growth out of both rookies in Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese have been one of the lone bright spots for the Sky.
Cardoso’s growth in the second half of the season has shown just in her scoring abilities. Her average has jumped up nearly 5 points a game in August. Her blocking ability has her ranked No. 1 amongst all rookies. With comfortability comes consistency, and that all came from confidence she received from her teammates.
”I’ve told her from the beginning, this will be your game by being able to dominate inside because they had nobody to guard her,” Reese said about Cardoso after the Minnesota loss. “Just knowing that we have to make that a habit for us. We have to play the game inside out, and, as you can see, when we played the game inside out, it was good for us.
“I love Kamilla’s confidence. Being able to go up strong and finish around the basket, and then going up to the free-throw line and knocking it down so I’m really proud of Kamilla. Her confidence since the break has just been great, and I love that for her.”
Reese is continuing her record-breaking rookie season. In the September 1 loss, Reese broke the single-season rebounding record at 405 and counting. That record was set back in 2018 by Sylvia Fowles. Reese also broke the single-season offensive rebounding record in the same game at 165 and counting. The record was set in 2001 by Yolanda Griffith.
She also broke the WNBA rookie record for most double-doubles in a season with her 23rd double-double in the Sky’s loss to Indiana on Aug. 30.
Her relentlessness in crashing the glass has her ranked No. 1 in the WNBA in rebounding and offensive rebounding with 13.1 rpg and 5.2 orpg while also sitting at No. 3 in the league with her 7.9 defensive boards average.
”I just knew my motor,” Reese said after the loss to Minnesota. “Offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds is something that I know I can always do. I knew it was going to translate right away, and that’s something that a lot of players don’t want to do. A lot of people think it’s because I get my own rebounds, but statistically, it’s not. A lot of people think it’s because I’m the tallest on the court when I’m not the tallest on the court.
“So just being able to go down there and being able to bang, doing things that a lot of people don’t want to do. Defense and rebounding wins championships, and I’ve won championships at every level by just doing that.”
The path to the playoffs
With 8 games left, the Sky’s road to the postseason is looking less and less likely after going 0-3 on the week.
As a refresher, the top 8 teams at the end of the WNBA season will punch their ticket to the postseason. These are the standings as of Sept. 2:
- New York Liberty – clinched
- Connecticut Sun – clinched
- Minnesota Lynx – clinched
- Las Vegas Aces – clinched
- Seattle Storm – clinched
- Indiana Fever
- Phoenix Mercury
- Chicago Sky
- Atlanta Dream
- Washington Mystics
- Dallas Wings
- Los Angeles Sparks
With the Atlanta Dream starting to find their rhythm and the Sky’s loss to the Washington Mystics, it’s a hard path if the Sky want to make the playoffs. They do have a somewhat easy week ahead playing both Los Angeles and Dallas — two crucial wins if the Sky don’t want to fall out of the No. 8 spot.
They also have the Aces on Sept. 3 in Las Vegas. If the Sky can find a way to pull off the upset, the hopes for the postseason will remain alive. However, if they don’t have Carter again for any games this week, it’s going to be a tall task for the rest of the team to step up.
Looking ahead in the schedule, the final playoff spot may be determined by the Sept. 17 matchup between the Dream and the Sky in Atlanta. Both Atlanta and Chicago have a similar strength of schedule over the next couple weeks. If both teams finish equally, that final matchup between the two teams will decide who sees the postseason and who gets a lottery pick.
Stats and Notes
- Reese moved up to No. 3 on the all-time rookie defensive rebounds list with 242 in the loss to Indiana
- Diamond DeShields reached 2,000 career points against Indiana
- Reese became the fastest player to reach 400 rebounds (32 games) vs. Minnesota