{"id":767262,"date":"2026-07-17T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767262\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T00:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T00:00:18","slug":"skys-strongest-playoff-case-is-the-rest-of-the-leagues-inconsistency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767262\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky\u2019s strongest playoff case is the rest of the league\u2019s inconsistency"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sky<\/a> know what their biggest problem is.<\/p>\n

Asked about the gap between the the expectations for the season and their reality, coach Tyler Marsh said it all comes down to consistency.<\/p>\n

At 8-16, the Sky are stuck in 12th place, but have shown flashes of competing with the league\u2019s best teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously no one in this locker room is pleased with where we\u2019re at, but we\u2019re not trying to manage other people\u2019s expectations,\u201d Marsh said on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to hold up to what our expectations are for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should be noted that their own expectations are the ones they\u2019re falling short of, not necessarily external ones. Very few of the major preseason power rankings picked the Sky to finish in the top eight. <\/p>\n

But they still believe they\u2019re close to validating the confidence they projected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in all these games,\u201d veteran guard Natasha Cloud said after the Sky squandered their third double-digit lead against the Wings. \u201cWe\u2019re in every single one of them until the last probably three or four minutes, and then we\u2019re not executing on both ends of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucky for them, the rest of the league keeps leaving the door open.<\/p>\n

Pretty much every team has been inconsistent so far. Even the league\u2019s best teams \u2014 the Lynx, the Aces \u2014 can lay an egg on any given night.<\/p>\n

The middle is even more Jekyll and Hyde. The Fever, Liberty and Dream \u2014 teams with traditional Big Threes and championship aspirations \u2014 all have games when they look totally incomplete.<\/p>\n

Start with what that means for Marsh, who has taken the brunt of the heat for this underperforming squad.<\/p>\n

If Fever coach Stephanie White, as respected and seasoned as they come, can\u2019t lead a team with three All-Star starters to better than 14-10, Marsh\u2019s campaign with a team that has zero All-Stars looks a little less damning.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t let him off the hook. It means he isn\u2019t uniquely failing in a league where more talented teams with more continuity are having the same kinds of struggles.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s what it means for the standings. The teams sitting between the Sky and the playoffs have plenty of holes, too.<\/p>\n

The Sparks recently fired their general manager and could become sellers at the trade deadline. The Tempo, much like the Sky, can challenge a great team one night and look completely overmatched the next.<\/p>\n

The burning question is whether this opportunity even matters if the Sky remain their own worst enemy. Just past the midpoint of the season, their late-game dysfunction might be a pattern that has calcified. <\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s win over the Storm offered a small rebuttal.<\/p>\n

Yes, Seattle has the worst record in the league, but the Sky won without their two leading scorers, Kamilla Cardoso and Skylar Diggins. And this time, they didn\u2019t choke away the ending.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not ideal that the Sky\u2019s playoff hopes rest as much on the rest of the league\u2019s inconsistency as on their own strengths. Eventually, they\u2019ll have to prove they can protect a lead against playoff teams, not just benefit when the teams ahead of them stumble.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the open door waiting for them in the second half \u2014 if they can get out of their own way and walk through it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Storm<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Johnson scored 25 points and made her case, but the Sky won the game. The draft decision will take much longer to judge.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

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\"Chicago<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

After a difficult 10-month recovery, Carrington is focused on playing free again. She\u2019s also clear-eyed about a 7-16 Sky team that still has not learned how to finish games.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
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read<\/p>\n

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\"Sky<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Another late lead slipped away in Dallas, leaving the Sky with the same record they had at last season\u2019s halfway point.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

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