Angel Reese Issues Serious Warning to Chicago Sky Amid Brutal Losing Streak
The Chicago Sky are in real danger of falling out of the playoff picture in the WNBA. This is after Angel Reese and Co. suffered their sixth straight defeat on Sunday, September 1, 79-74, against the Minnesota Lynx.
Right now, Chicago is just half a game ahead of the ninth-placed Atlanta Dream, who, incidentally, will be in action on Sunday as well against a 7-24 Los Angeles Sparks side. If the Dream win, then the Sky will concede the eighth and final playoff spot to Atlanta (for the time being, at least).
This unwanted development has prompted a strong statement from Reese after watching her team suffer yet another tough loss.
The rookie sensation did all she could in this one, turning in a monster 17-point, 19-rebound double-double. After the loss, Reese just had to issue a stern reminder to her team about their defensive shortcomings.
“We’re gonna continue to lose games unless we buy into [our defense],” she said, via Marquee Sky on X, formerly Twitter.
Reese made her statement in response to Chicago’s lack of steals in the second half of the season. On Sunday, the Sky logged just five steals (two of them came from Reese) against Minnesota’s 10 swipes.
It’s not the end of the world for Chicago just yet. There are still eight games left to play for this squad, and, notably, they face off against the Dream on September 17, which will be their second-to-the-last game of the regular season.
All hope is not lost for the Sky, but as Reese reiterated, they will need to step up on defense in a major way.
At the moment, Chicago’s 101.8 defensive rating ranks seventh in the WNBA.
The Chicago Sky rookie wasn’t happy after losing to her archrival.
Angel Reese
Had Caitlin Clark made her debut before or after Angel Reese, we would probably be talking about the Chicago Sky rookie as the best of the year. She’s had considerable performances throughout the season and she even was considered the ROY favorite when things weren’t working out for Caitlin Clark. This evening was the most important challenge for Reese, she either stayed in the Rookie of the Year conversation or Caitlin Clark
Angel Reese complains about ref calling in Caitlin Clark’s favor
After the game, Angel Reese was obviously angry for losing and she said something that made her seem like a sore loser. She claimed that Caitlin Clark gets treated differently by the referee and gets more calls in her favor. This is classic behavior from a pro athlete who absolutely hates losing. On the positive side, this fired up is exactly how we need to have a player as talented as Angel Reese for the rest of the season. Starting next season, she will be even more fired up if Clark wins Rookie of the Year. But don’t worry this is only the start of what promises to become one of the greatest rivalries in sports history.
Imagine a few years from now when these two rookies are already familiarized with the WNBA, how their rivalry will be then. Together, they are already changing the WNBA for good but this is only the start of something truly historic. In the standings, none of both teams seem to be strong enough to make it far in the WNBA playoffs. The Indiana Fever reached a 16-16 record while the Chicago Sky have an 11-20 record. They both share the Eastern Conference and they stand third and fourth of their sector, respectively. Tonight, the biggest battle was for ROY and we all know who came out on top. Debate, over.
