CHICAGO — Angel Reese is thriving in her new role.
Believing Reese’s skill set wasn’t limited to rebounding, first-year Chicago Sky coach Tyler Marsh has asked the second-year player to be more of a “point forward.” It’s taken a while, but what Marsh saw in Reese is becoming obvious to everyone.
“The versatility is definitely something I saw coming into the season,” Marsh said. “There are different ways I felt she could be effective, in addition to rebounding and being low post, and I think she’s showed this versatility as this year has gone on.”
Reese is still getting her rebounds. Going into the All-Star break, she leads the WNBA (by a lot) with 12.6 boards a game. She’s also scoring at a clip comparable to her rookie season, with 14 points a game.
But she’s become a better, or more active, facilitator. Her 3.8 assists are double what she averaged last year, and she’s had four or more assists in six of her last nine games.
“She’s got gifts. She’s big, strong and has … just a high IQ for the game. And (she’s) competitive,” said Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, whose Lynx team faced Reese and the Sky three times in a nine-day span this month.
“You can get really far with a high IQ and being so competitive, and a passion and willingness to improve,” Reeve added. “And that’s what we’re seeing from her.”
Reese is an All-Star for a second consecutive season, selected as a reserve for Saturday’s game. She’s on Team Collier, which Reeve will coach.
Marsh, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces, has said since he arrived that he wants the Sky to play with “space and pace.” The idea being it will open up the floor and give Chicago multiple options offensively.
Reese is a key part of that. She hoovers up pretty much anything around the basket but would usually feed the ball to someone else. Now Marsh tasks her with initiating the offense more, as well as encouraging her to extend her range.
Expanding her shot selection was something Reese had focused on during the Unrivaled season, training with Napheesa Collier and her husband Alex Bazzell, the longtime skills coach for top WNBA and NBA players. Reese also works with Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, the gold standard for a point forward in the WNBA.
The initial results were … rough. Reese’s shot was off — she went 0 for 8 in the Sky’s second game of the season — and her assist-to-turnover ratio was sub-optimal. Worse, the transition became even more imperative when veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL on June 7.
But Reese worked at it. And worked at it. And worked at it some more. Slowly, things began clicking.
She had the first triple-double of her W career on June 15, finishing with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against Connecticut. She’s already made (four) and taken (19) more 3-pointers than she did all last season.
And in nine games since June 22, Reese is averaging a double-double while shooting better than 50% from the floor.
“I just trust my work. I put the work in every single day. … And just being able to feel comfortable,” Reese said after the July 12 game against the Lynx, when she had 11 of her 19 points and three of her four assists in the first quarter.
“First quarter I felt comfortable. Those are shots I take in practice all the time,” Reese said, of the opening period, when she missed just one of her six shots. “When I have teammates that really put a lot of confidence in me to take shots that sometimes I wasn’t comfortable taking before, it makes my job easier. When I’m efficient and can do things on the court, offensively and defensively, it really helps the team to get a win.”
Chicago still has issues. It lacks a consistent shooter – still. The Hailey Van Lith experiment remains an experiment. Kamilla Cardoso missed four games while playing for Brazil at the AmeriCup, a qualifier for the Olympic qualifier. At 7-15, the Sky are on track to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season after a five-year run of making the postseason.
But Reese’s development is an unquestionable bright spot for Chicago.
“It’s been her ability to understand when she’s got the lane as a scorer and when she can be a facilitator. Then, obviously, what she brings on the defensive end, as well,” Marsh said.
“It’s just been her aggression and being able to recognize her opportunities in different areas of the floor,” he added. “Whether it’s in the low post, high post or on the perimeter, and being able to feed off her teammates from that standpoint as well.”
Marsh always knew Reese was capable of this. Now everyone else does, too.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.