Angel Reese’s New Role With Chicago Sky Proves She Is A Better Player When She Doesn’t Shoot

Angel Reese had a phenomenal first year in the WNBA… outside of her shooting. The Chicago Sky saw her struggles as a rookie and asked her to change her game to prevent another season of painstaking brickfests.

It is already paying dividends!

Reese, one of the biggest names in this new era of the WNBA, averaged a double-double in 2024. However, she shot less than 40% from the field and less than 20% from beyond the arc. Her offensive struggles were often hard to watch. The numerical breakdown is terrible.

• 11.1% on shots between five and nine feet
• 33.3% on shots between 10 and 14 feet
• 35.7% on shots between 15 and 19 feet
• 18.2% on shots between 20 and 24 feet
• ~18% on shots beyond 25 feet.

The vast majority of Reese’s made baskets were from less than five feet away from the rim. A large amount of her made baskets were off of her own misses.

Although the Sky showed flashes of what they can be when it all comes together, they missed out on the playoffs because they lacked consistency. And that inspired change. Head coach Teresa Witherspoon was fired during the offseason. Chicago also added to its young core through the WNBA Draft with a pair of shooters to offset some of its reliance on the post game.

With the additions of Hailey Van Lith, Ajsa Sivka and Aicha Coulibaly, the offense does not have to go through Angel Reese. She can take more of a back seat on the offensive end compared to last year.

New head coach Tyler Marsh is working with Reese on a new role and it is already starting to work. The Sky lost to the Lynx in their final game of the preseason but their offense looked very different. Reese finished with a team-high six assists as more of a facilitator than a selfish scorer. (She still went 2-of-8 from the field which wasn’t great…)

The high-low combination with Kamilla Cardoso was cooking.