Angel Reese is already the greatest rebounder in WNBA history as a rookie. The only problem is that a large chunk of her rebounds are off of her own misses, she is abysmal on the offensive end, and the Chicago Sky continue to lose.
There is a very bright future in the Windy City but a lot of glaring issues will continue to plague potential.
Reese set a pair of single-season records on Sunday with eight games left in the regular season. She first pulled down her 405th rebound of the year during the second quarter, which broke Sylvia Fowles’ mark from 2018. She later surpassed Yolanda Griffith’s offensive rebound record from 2001.
Angel Reese has 405 rebounds this year, a new WNBA single-season record
— WNBA Universe (@wnbauniverse) September 1, 2024
Congratulations!#WNBA pic.twitter.com/JAabsQ3erF
Credit where credit is due, Reese is an unstoppable force on the glass. The 6-foot-3 forward is going to put her body on the line to fight for every loose ball. Not even three Lynx defenders could stop her.
Angel Reese grabs her own offensive rebound over 3 defenders.
— Mark Jackson’s Burner (@casualtakeking) September 1, 2024
“I’m a dawg. You can’t teach that.” pic.twitter.com/6XVWSd8hNC
Reese out-muscled multiple Minnesota players on a few different occasions.
ANGEL REESE GETTING THE OFFENSIVE REBOUND OVER 3 PEOPLE! OMG! SHE IS HER! pic.twitter.com/h2omdJpcVb
— BullsKickAss (@Bullskickass) September 1, 2024
To say that every single one of her rebounds is not impressive would not be fair. 405 in one year is a testament to Reese’s dominance. She is currently on pace for at least 475!
Here’s the issue….
Chicago is 11-21 after a loss on Sunday. Angel Reese went 6-of-16 from the field. Less than 40%!
Although a 19-board performance deserves proper recognition, a lot of them are off of her own misses. It has been a reoccurring theme all season that draws the “stat-padding” label.
For example, this play technically counts as one of Reese’s 405+ rebounds:
WTF is this finger roll layup from Angel Reese??? And get awarded an offensive rebound for this??
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) August 24, 2024
Nahhh thats nasty😭😭😭😭#WNBA pic.twitter.com/AvHVwn2qqA
Does such an ugly sequence of events really deserve to be applauded?
Now, to be fair, the missed layup problem is not just a Reese problem. It’s the entire WNBA.
However, the other players who cannot finish are not also breaking league records in the process. Their misses are not rewarded with historic rebounds. They aren’t in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.
Let’s call it how it is!