“All she really needs to do is bump up her shooting percentage by like 3, 4, 5 points, which is totally doable, and all of a sudden we’re looking at a kid instead of averaging like 13 and 13, it’s like 18 and 13.” WNBA legend Sue Bird had a piece of advice for Angel Reese for improving from her rookie season. And with the arrival of a new coach in Tyler Marsh, it seems the message is similar not only to the rookie forward but rookie center as well.
“They both have the ability to be multidimensional. We want them to be effective in different phases of the game whilst also still highlighting the strengths of what they do.” Marsh spoke to the Chicago Tribune about how Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso could become better. Despite their All-Rookie honors, their strength wasn’t shooting.
Chi-town Barbie broke Candace Parker’s WNBA record with 15 consecutive double-doubles to averaging the highest rebounds per game (13.1) in a single season. On the other hand, her Brazilian teammate rookie averaged 9.8 points with 7.9 rebounds per game after suffering a shoulder injury early on in the season. So, Marsh wants to deploy his ‘Sky Scrapers’ (Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso) as active facilitators in the paint. Which will help to capitalize on the 6-foot-7 Cardoso’s high level of mobility despite her height.
Previously, Marsh was the assistant coach and head of player development with the Las Vegas Aces and was responsible for taking the team to two back-to-back championships.
Plus, the Aces for the past three seasons made it to the playoffs. So, after firing 3 coaches in as many seasons, the winds might change in the Windy City after his arrival.
Angel Reese’s weakness is a cause of concern for the coach
Last year, the Chicago Sky struggled massively for scoring as they were the second-worst team in field goal percentage at 42.2%.
Another stats that the fans might not like was that they shot just 30.2% from beyond the arc, which was the fourth-worst in the league.
So, it comes as no surprise that coach Marsh wants to bring in the change.
USA Today via Reuters
Some surprising stat for the Chi-Town Barbie was that her FG% was just 39.9% and her 3PT shooting was 18.8%.
And there were games when the FG percentage did not cross even 25%.
That’s when the layup controversy started, as she was falling behind on points but continued her rebounding skill.
That said, if we look at her collegiate stats, in 4 year period her shooting beyond the arc never crossed 20%. However, the drop in FG% is drastic.
In her second and third seasons, she scored 50% and 52.5%, meanwhile, her first and final season was close to 47%.
Tyler Marsh noticed it and echoed the message of efficiency from his star player.
Even though she did not attend the introductory speech of her coach, Angel Reese is helping the franchise by being present at the Draft Lottery.
With hopes of earning the first draw so that might potentially draft the consensus, the overall #1 pick is UConn’s guard Paige Bueckers.