WNBA: Why the renewed Chicago Sky aren’t wasting any time

For most rebuilding teams, there is a tendency to want to emphasize patience. But that is not the case with the Chicago Sky.

They are seeking to get up off that mat after being out for the count last year. A year in which they went 13-24, missed the playoffs and saw top talent injured, all culminating with the abrupt firing of then-head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. Even with Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso as the new generation of Sky stars, the team was lacking in crucial areas, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They had obvious weaknesses in shooting and pushing the tempo.

As they enter a new season, they are not waiting for their turn. They are looking to turn the page from the last few chaotic years that saw a revolving door of coaches and players, giving off the impression of an organization out of whack.

The Sky made some considerable draft picks, most notably Hailey Van Lith, who played with Reese at LSU before finishing her college career at TCU. She has demonstrated herself to be an effective playmaker, scorer and leader. They also scored big in bringing on worthy veterans, namely Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins. Both vets are looking to take players like Van Lith under their wings. Their presences, along with that of veteran center Elizabeth Williams in the post to look out for Reese and Cardoso, help to balance out the roster’s youth and experience. Michaela Onyenwere, Rebecca Allen, Moriah Jefferson, Kia Nurse, Rachel Banham and Maddy Westbeld round out that mixture.

At the helm is former Las Vegas Aces assistant Tyler Marsh, a coach known for player development. His intentionality to get the most out of Chicago’s key players has been on repeat since his hiring in the fall of 2024.

Specifically, Marsh is looking to get Reese and Cardoso to contribute more on the offensive end by scoring from all spots on the floor—a noteworthy criticism of their respective games due to them being confined to the post. This is a strategy that Reese is embracing as she looks to expand her game while continuing to crash the boards. At media day, Reese shared:

So obviously, rebounds wins championships, and I know my teammates are going to need me to still continue to do that. But obviously, if I’m on a perimeter a lot, it might take away from that. But that’s not going to stop me from going in there and wanting to bang and battle. But it’s just patience, like learning new systems and learning new ways. I really enjoy Tyler just being open and transparent about things that I’m good at, and things that I need to work on. And that’s just something I really love.

Beyond that, Marsh is seeking to cultivate a team culture that prioritizes short-term gains for long-term sustainability. In other words, creating space for players to take tangible steps towards success and building off of that for the long run.

It’s a lofty goal for a first-time head coach, but one he says he is committed to attaining, as he emphasized at media day, asserting:

I think it’s establishing identity. First and foremost, I think that coming into your first year, it’s really all of our first year together. So it’s a clean slate for everyone. And I think that just establishing a culture, establishing a mindset, establishing identity of who we want to be for this year, and for the long term is how we’ll gauge ourselves moving forward.

And we want it to be something that’s sustainable, something that’s just not for year one, and fades away in year two, but something that we can continue to build upon and lay on a foundation for everyone that’s in here now, and everyone that’s to be a Chicago Sky moving forward understands what we’re about. And they can kind of disseminate that message along to everyone else. So it’s being able to put a set of standards in place where again….we can know what our core values are and how we want to move moving forward.

If everyone stays healthy, the Sky could once again contend for the playoffs. It will be years before they can be considered title contenders, but at least on paper, they can get back to prominence without having to wait.