Sky\u2019s<\/a> recent disappointments have resembled the Sparks\u2019, one has to wonder: Will coach Tyler Marsh suffer the same fate?<\/p>\nThe Sky lost their final game Thursday, finishing the season 16-28. During Marsh\u2019s postgame news conference, amid the usual flood of emotions brought about by the end of a season, there was also an added sense that his future hung in the balance.<\/p>\n
It can\u2019t be a comfortable moment for Marsh, 38.<\/p>\n
He told the Sun-Times recently that, for a longtime NBA assistant who found a greater purpose in the WNBA, leading this team is his dream come true.<\/p>\n
The question is whether that feeling is reciprocated from the top.<\/p>\n
Marsh\u2019s exit meeting with the higher-ups is scheduled for Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
When asked Thursday why he\u2019s the right person to lead the organization into its next chapter, he was characteristically deferential.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018We\u2019ve been able to see some level of improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, but it\u2019s less about me stating my case and just letting you know that I love this team,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018I love being the head coach of this team. I don\u2019t take it for granted or lightly.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I\u2019ve hoped to have had some impact on our players and our community and our fan base and our front office and our support staff, and I\u2019ll let the chips fall where [they] may.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I\u2019m not the decision-maker. If I\u2019m back, I will continue to give it my all. And if I\u2019m not, then that\u2019s the decision that is made, and I will be grateful for the two years that I\u2019ve had.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Surely, Marsh has noticed the warning signs coming from above. General manager Jeff Pagliocca has held fast to his belief that injuries shouldn\u2019t have prevented a playoff appearance, which implicates Marsh.<\/p>\n
The Sky\u2019s history of churn also looms over him. If Marsh is let go, it would represent the Sky\u2019s eighth coaching change since their founding in 2005, tied with the Sparks for the most during that period.<\/p>\n
Will support from his players help buck that trend?<\/p>\n
During their exit interviews Friday, players reiterated their usual praise. Marsh helped to facilitate a positive locker-room environment and cares deeply about the team. He has a talent for drawing up plays out of timeouts and putting people in positions to succeed.<\/p>\n
Those are real compliments, but none of his stars was exactly pounding the table in his favor, either. The strongest defense came from veteran Natasha Cloud, who pointed out that Marsh deserves grace as a second-year coach and inherited a \u2018\u2018s— show\u2019\u2019 when he arrived in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Then she stated the obvious: This decision is way above her pay grade.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clearly one the organization needs to get right. They\u2019ve got a nice young core in Rickea Jackson, Kamilla Cardoso and Sydney Taylor and roster continuity to capitalize on next season. But Cloud\u2019s \u2018\u2018s— show\u2019\u2019 comment should remind everyone that the roots of the Sky\u2019s dysfunction extend beyond Marsh and that real change will require a collective effort.<\/p>\n
Marsh alluded to that when he was asked Thursday about the biggest step forward the organization took this season.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I think that in order for us to move forward as an organization, there has to be a realization of what has held us back,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018There has to be our own self-reflection and evaluation organizationally, so that we can understand how to attract and address things moving forward.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018So I think that being able to have those hard conversations behind the scenes will serve as the turning point going forward.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Marsh might not be willing to make a fuss about why he deserves to return for a third season, but good for him for not letting the higher-ups off the hook, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sparks\u2019 Lynne Roberts was the first coach to get the ax after the WNBA\u2019s regular season ended.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-860755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860755","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=860755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}