How Angel Reese epitomizes the new-look Chicago Sky
With one of the most dramatic re-toolings in basketball over the off-season, Angel Reese is the epitome of what Teresa Witherspoon's Sky wants to do.
No team in the WNBA has featured as much roster turnover as the Chicago Sky with a new coach in two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Teresa Weatherspoon, and a new regime both in the coaching staff and on the roster.
The front office made an unexpected blockbuster, trading three-time All-Star Kahleah Copper for Michaela Onyenwere, Brianna Turner and the first-round pick that would become Kamilla Cardoso along with other draft capital.
Copper has been on a heater to start the season, averaging a blistering 31.3 points per game for the Mercury, yet couldn’t be further from the new identity the Sky hold.
Chicago brought in several defensive presences to supplement Copper’s absence on the other end. Diamond DeShields is one of the most consistent two-way guards in the league; the team’s top two scorers to begin the season, Mariana Mabrey and Elizabeth Williams, have been incredibly productive on the defensive end and third-overall pick Cardoso, despite being sidelined with injury, brings a massive presence in the paint when healthy.
However, none of those players epitomize exactly what this new-look Sky team is trying to put forth quite like seventh-overall pick Angel Reese.
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For the past two years, Reese has been one of the biggest names in basketball — men’s or women’s — for her historic on-court production, fashion and personality off the court, and of course her rival-like relationship with the icon that is Caitlin Clark.
However, none of those are why Reese has been what she is for this Sky team.
Reese is incredibly tough, and that’s not just based on strength, which she has plenty of. Drafting Reese meant that the Sky wanted to build a culture around that toughness.
At 6’3” and 165 pounds with an impressive wingspan, Reese can take a bump or hit and eat up as much space on the court as you let her. These traits, in combination with quick feet and tenacity to compete on every single possession, have made Reese a terrific rebounder and defender.
Despite a lack of offensive production, Reese is playing the fourth-most minutes on the Sky, starting all three games and helping them to a top-four defense in the league at 96.0, down from a middling 103.4 in 2023.
The numbers speak for themselves, but what Reese does on the court is much harder to quantify. Her steal and block totals are not as gaudy as they were at LSU, only recording three steals and zero blocks through her three games.
However, Reese’s rebounding is something that has translated. Currently, she’s the WNBA leader in offensive rebounds at 5.0 per game, averaging 8.5 rebounds overall, good for eighth.
Offensive rebounding has been the Sky’s obvious identity on the offensive end, especially in the halfcourt. Chicago is the league’s far-and-away leader in offensive rebounding average at 15.3 per game, with Reese grabbing nearly a third of those on her own.
This ability to secure possessions on the offensive glass has allowed the team to climb to 2-1 despite atrocious shooting. Reese, herself, is shooting just 33.3% from the field and 58.3% on free throws with the Sky posting an abysmal collective true-shooting percentage of 48.7%, second-worst in the league.
The Sky win wars of attrition, constantly pressuring and wearing out their opponent while every member of their roster’s engine stays roaring. They don’t win with hot shooting or flashy offensive sets; they win with high-energy defense and an unwavering enthusiasm to stack extra possessions on offense, and Reese is integral to that.
Reese’s strong build and long arms allow her to consistently carve out space under the rim. She has the fundamentals of boxing out down-pat, too, making it difficult for even stronger and longer players to get around her.
Through her offensive rebounding, she’s been able to draw tons of fouls, shooting eight free throws a game. The impact of this goes beyond her ability to score at the line, which has been lackluster. As the fouls pile up, opposing defenses get increasingly and visibly frustrated, being forced to play more conservatively or lash out in that frustration.
The offensive rebounding and foul-drawing have been Reese’s main tools of offensive impact throughout her young career; however, defense is where Reese has truly been able to shine.
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One area where Reese and Chicago have been dominant is defending the pick and roll. According to Synergy Sports (which does not currently have data on the most recent Sky game against the Liberty) the Sky have held teams to the lowest field goal percentage (26.8%) and points per possession (0.617) in pick-and-roll settings, including passes.
Reese’s tools speak to her impact in these settings. Long arms, fast feet and an active mindset keep her in play constantly, helping to shut down the best play in basketball. Reese can switch, drop, hedge and cover the ground off the ball when needed.
Here, Reese shows it all. First, she fronts the post on Natasha Howard, forcing the ball outside. The possession then turns into a pick-and-roll with Howard and Arike Ogunbowale, which Reese drops on, recovering to the popping Howard as the Wings try to reset.
A second screen is set and this time Reese hedges, forcing a kick-out and quickly recovering to Howard popping again. A clean closeout forces a change of direction and a difficult step-back. Reese gets a great contest, essentially shutting the entire possession down single-handedly.
Reese is also able to play aggressively on the ball, going unpunished a lot of the time due to her quickness.
On this possession, another Ogunbowale-Howard pick and pop turns into a fake handoff for Howard. Reese is quick to slide a jab into the open space, stripping the ball from Howard entirely and quickly gets out in transition for the layup.
This aggressive pick-and-roll defense can be found up and down Chicago’s roster. It can lead to fouls occasionally, or easy buckets off overplays, but it’s a large part of why the Sky have been able to outscore their opponents 21.3 to 13.7 off turnovers.
As previously mentioned, Reese’s steal and block production hasn’t been the greatest, but her energy has helped the Sky to generate them as a team. The team’s 9.7 steals ranks fourth in the WNBA and its 6.0 blocks ranks fourth. Combining the two gives the team the third-highest total behind Minnesota and Seattle.
In terms of strategy, the reason behind this production can be seen all over. Chicago’s guards go over almost any screen, funneling their opponents to the basket where they have a length advantage most of the time.
While the guards are doing this, depending on personnel, the Sky will choose to hedge or drop with their big. When they hedge, they’re looking for a kick-out, helping the helper on the weak side to avoid easy rolls or penetration. When they drop, they’ll bring much more help around the nail, thwarting most attempts at a drive while eating space with their length.
Outside of the pick-and-roll, Chicago loves to front the post, forcing more difficult entry passes, where they’ve made a habit of batting the ball in the air or swarming the posted player.
Reese helps in all these facets for the tools and mentality that we’ve harped on constantly. Behind Reese and coach Weatherspoon, Chicago has made one of the most dramatic heel turns in the WNBA, going from a rather middling team with solid talent to a true unit with a definable culture, in no small part due to the decision to bring in Reese with the seventh pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Definitely think Reese at 7 was a big steal for the Sky, especially since they already got Cardoso. The team is set for the future especially if they continue to lean into this culture