{"id":189360,"date":"2025-09-29T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/189360\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T08:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:02:09","slug":"the-chicago-sky-never-got-off-the-ground-this-season-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/189360\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chicago Sky never got off the ground this season. Why?"},"content":{"rendered":"

But they were also second in the league in rebounds, and boasted a roster led by two-time All-Star Angel Reese<\/a> and multiple Olympians, including Rebecca Allen<\/a> and Ariel Atkins<\/a>. So what happened?<\/p>\n

Point guard problems<\/p>\n

One area where the Sky faltered was at point guard. After veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot<\/a> tore her ACL in June, Chicago struggled to run their offense efficiently. While Vandersloot\u2019s return to the Sky had provided some much-needed stability, her season-ending injury had Chicago scrambling to find a replacement a mere month into the season.<\/p>\n

Without Vandersloot, the Sky rotated the role of primary ball-handler between Allen, Atkins, Kia Nurse<\/a> and Rachel Banham<\/a>. While they each had impressive performances throughout the season, none of them were able to command the court with the same steadiness of Vandersloot. <\/p>\n

Order \u2018Rare Gems\u2019 and save 30%
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. \u201cRare Gems\u201d follows four connected generations of women\u2019s basketball pioneers, from Elvera \u201cPeps\u201d Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy Megdal\u2019s coverage of women\u2019s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love \u201cRare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.\u201d Click the link below to order<\/a> and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout to save 30%!<\/p>\n

To be fair, that wasn\u2019t the role any of them thought they would be taking on at the beginning of the season \u2014 each had more traditionally played as shooting guards. The proof was in the box scores: Atkins scored 30 against the Las Vegas Aces, Banham put up 26 points against the Indiana Fever, Nurse put up 10 points and seven assists against the Golden State Valkyries, and Allen notched 27 against the Dallas Wings. Yet none of them could crack four assists per game, with Reese leading the pack at 3.7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to probably play a little bit more shooting guard, but I\u2019m totally cool with playing the backup [point guard] when it\u2019s needed, because I do like having the ball in my hands,\u201d Banham said in her exit interview.<\/p>\n

The addition of Sevgi Uzun<\/a> in late July added another point guard option for the Sky, but she maxed out at six assists in just one game and 10 points in her highest scoring performance. By contrast, Vandersloot averaged 5.3 assists and 10.6 points during the seven games she played for the Sky this season. <\/p>\n

Growth in the post<\/p>\n

Despite the Sky\u2019s troubles at point guard, the team saw growth from its post players. Kamilla Cardoso<\/a> made a strong case for Chicago\u2019s most improved player<\/a> in 2025, attacking the basket and taking up space. Overall, Cardoso seemed more confident, both on the court and in media opportunities.<\/p>\n

Reese built on the success of her stellar rookie season, grabbing the most rebounds in the league for the second year in a row and earning her first career triple-double. The \u201cSkyscrapers\u201d were a potent pair in the post, and they weren\u2019t alone: veteran Elizabeth Williams<\/a> also had four double-doubles on the season.<\/p>\n

Want even more women\u2019s sports in your inbox?<\/p>\n

Subscribe now to The IX Sports<\/a> and receive our daily women\u2019s sports newsletter covering soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers. That includes Basketball Wednesday from founder and editor Howard Megdal.<\/p>\n

Readers of The IX Basketball now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.<\/p>\n

Plagued by injuries<\/p>\n

The whole team was only healthy for six games over the course of the whole season. A season ending injury for Vandersloot, a leg injury for Atkins, and a back injury for Reese took three powerful players off the roster for weeks on end. This not only limited their in-game options, but further scrambled the team\u2019s identity on the court.<\/p>\n

Add to that several missed games by Williams, Hailey Van Lith<\/a> and Michaela Onyenwere<\/a>, and the Sky were stretched thin between both starters and the bench. Previous reporting from The Next<\/a> found that the 2025 WNBA season featured 967 games lost<\/a> to injury league-wide \u2014 and the Sky were no exception.<\/p>\n

Leadership<\/p>\n

Despite a difficult season, Sky players praised first-year head coach Tyler Marsh for continuing to care for each of them as individual people, not just as professional athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201c[B]eing able to have a coach like Tyler, it was amazing through the ups and downs,\u201d Cardoso said in her exit interview. \u201cHe was always there for me. He was always very much loving, caring and just showing his support, and I love the way he fought for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Reese told the Chicago Tribune<\/a> she wanted Marsh to coach harder and asked general manager Jeff Pagliocca to put together a stronger roster during free agency this year. Although Reese faced backlash for her comments to the Tribune, including a half-game suspension, Pagliocca echoed her observations<\/a> in his own exit interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we absolutely need to improve the roster,\u201d Pagliocca said. \u201cWe are really committed to getting back to a place where we are competing with the best teams in this league.\u201d <\/p>\n

Reese, Atkins and Vandersloot did not give exit interviews this year, and it is unclear whether Reese will stay in Chicago to finish out her rookie contract. But Pagliocca said he wasn\u2019t anticipating an immediate change for Reese.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil I hear differently, you know that that\u2019s the direction we\u2019re going to move \u2014 is that she\u2019s on the roster,\u201d Pagliocca said. <\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBecoming Caitlin Clark\u201d is out now!<\/p>\n

Howard Megdal\u2019s newest book is here! \u201cBecoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar\u201d captures both the historic nature of Clark\u2019s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.<\/p>\n

Pagliocca also told media he thought Marsh was still the right person to be Chicago\u2019s head coach: \u201cJust know that I\u2019m going to keep pouring my heart and soul into it, and we are going to get this right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Marsh\u2019s exit interview, the coach that players described throughout the season, one who consistently showed up for his players, was on display:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about commit and compete, that\u2019s who Angel is and has been,\u201d Marsh said about Reese in his exit interview. \u201cI think that there\u2019s a human element that is missing sometimes when we speak on players, particularly in Angel\u2019s light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marsh urged media to remember Reese is in her early 20s, faces severe harassment, and deserves grace. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot of good that Angel embodies as well, and I think that should be talked about just as much as all the other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changes on the horizon<\/p>\n

With another expansion draft on the way and a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in negotiation between the league and the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA), there are a lot of changes incoming for rosters across the league to contend with.<\/p>\n

Each team can protect up to six players in the expansion draft. But seven members of the Sky\u2019s roster are unrestricted free agents heading into the 2025-26 offseason. It\u2019s not yet clear who the Sky will chose to protect when the expansion draft comes around this winter, and Pagliocca\u2019s exit interview signals that the team may overhaul the roster in free agency either way.<\/p>\n

Another unknown for the Sky is the status of their $38 million dollar practice facility. For years, the Sky have practiced at a community athletic center, and a private professional facility for the team is now under construction in Bedford Park, Ill. Delays have plagued the project \u2014 it was originally expected to open in December 2025, before that date was pushed back to April 2026, just before next season begins. The Sky front office maintains<\/a> that it will be open in time for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

With lots of changes likely to come for this iteration of the Sky, Pagliocca and Marsh remain on staff heading into another year of rebuilding.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, and in this moment, regardless of the 10\u201334 record, I\u2019m extremely proud to be sitting here as the head coach and with the team that I had,\u201d Marsh said in his exit interview. \u201cAnd I wouldn\u2019t have this first year go any other way for me, personally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But they were also second in the league in rebounds, and boasted a roster led by two-time All-Star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[34190,438,110694,99,434],"class_list":["post-189360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-2025-wnba-season","tag-chicago-sky","tag-season-recap","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}