Rebounds, Defense and High Motor – Chicago Sky Angel Reese’s Rookie Season Ends With Injury

Angel Reese’s record-breaking year as a rookie for the Chicago Sky ended prematurely, as she announced Saturday that she would miss the remainder of this WNBA season with a wrist injury.

In just 34 games, the 6-foot-1 Reese has established herself as one of the most tenacious rebounders the WNBA has ever seen. She set the record for most rebounds in a season with 446 and also had 26 double-doubles, just shy of Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas’ record of 28 set last year.

Reese also set a league record with a streak of 15 double-doubles and became the first WNBA player to have three consecutive games with 20-plus rebounds.

The No. 7 pick out of LSU, where she won the national championship in 2023, Reese posed the biggest challenge to Indiana’s Caitlin Clark for Rookie of the Year honors. That’s a testament to Reese’s rebounding and defense.

The Sky are still in contention for the eighth and final playoff spot, tied with Atlanta and one game ahead of Washington. Chicago must try to finish strong without Reese.

Where do the Sky stand with six games remaining and how should Reese’s first season be assessed? ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Kevin Pelton and Michael Voepel analyze Saturday’s announcement.

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How would you rate Reese’s rookie season?

Vocabulary: An A. And she earned it. Some in the WNBA wondered how she would make it at the professional level for a variety of reasons, including her shooting range. But those who believed in her game kept saying that her motor alone was a valuable tool, and it is. Plus, her numbers back it up, as she averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds.

Reese’s natural rebounding instincts, combined with her relentlessness, have allowed her to sometimes tire other teams out on the rebounds all by herself. She set the season record for rebounds in 32 games, breaking the previous mark set by Sylvia Fowles in 34 games. Fowles, who retired after the 2022 season, is the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder (4,006), a mark Reese could also break one day.

Her run of double-doubles showed that her consistency and productivity continued in the pros, just as it did in college. On top of that, Reese had to deal with a lot of pressure and media attention, as more eyes than ever were on the WNBA this season.

Finally, while her season ended early, she still played 34 games, which is as long or longer than any former WNBA Rookie of the Year except Indiana’s Aliyah Boston last year (40). That’s because the WNBA just moved to a 40-game regular season in 2023.

What impressed you most about his transition to professional gaming?

Philip: Reese’s tenacity and relentlessness are hallmarks of her defensive steadiness and rebounding prowess, and are also the same qualities that make her a fierce competitor and someone who constantly wants to improve, who is never satisfied with where she is. Professional evaluators seem to have underestimated these intangible qualities, which, combined with her athleticism and skill, have led Reese to historic success. To see her be as dominant on the rebound as she has been, while emerging as the rock of her new franchise and facing intense scrutiny (and racism/hate) was quite remarkable.

What are you most looking forward to from Reese to improve next season?

Philippou: Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon told reporters Friday that she had criticized Reese recently about her finishing. Reese’s criticism may center on her struggles finishing around the basket — overall, she shot 39.1 percent from the field as a rookie and 44.5 percent from five feet. It was an area of ​​improvement she and the Sky were well aware of, and one that Reese will no doubt work on in the offseason with Chicago’s player development staff. It may be a positive sign that in her final game of her rookie year, she shot 9 of 15 from the field, one of her most efficient games to date. It will also help if, going forward, the Sky can surround her with stronger guards who can draw defenders out of the paint.

Expanding her shooting range will also be on the agenda. Reese added Friday that she worked late into Thursday night on her three-point shot with her coach, and she was relieved to finally make a three-pointer in the game against the Sparks after a long drought. She’s shown flashes of success outside the paint this season; making that a consistent part of her game, and one she can confidently go into, is the next step.

Can the Sky still make the playoffs without Reese?

Pelton: With Reese playing all 34 games this season, we haven’t seen Chicago without her yet. When Reese was on the bench, the Sky were outscored by an incredible 22.3 points per 100 possessions according to WNBA Advanced Stats — the worst net percentage with no player playing at least 100 minutes.

Don’t expect that point differential to last. Most of those minutes came off Chicago’s bench rather than with starters, and the sample size (256 minutes) is tiny. But it shows how important Reese was as a rookie.

The Sky had already struggled since the Olympic break without Marina Mabrey, who was traded to the Connecticut Sun. Chicago’s two wins since the break have come against the last-place Los Angeles Sparks, though the return of leading scorer Chennedy Carter, who had to comply with health and safety protocols, was a factor in Friday’s 92-78 victory, the Sky’s largest margin of victory all season.

The win kept Chicago tied with Atlanta for the final WNBA playoff spot (12-22), but the Dream were favored to clinch the No. 8 seed 46 percent of the time to the Sky’s 37 percent according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index before Reese’s absence. The two teams will meet Sept. 17 in Atlanta, a game that could decide the No. 8 seed.