“Pressure busts pipes.” Rightly said, Angel Reese! Ten losses deep, frustration has boiled over for the Chicago Sky, and it seems like their glory days are long behind them! Angel Reese and her squad find themselves at a crossroads–it’s do or die from here. Last night’s thirteen-point embarrassment just hammered in all the issues that we’ve known about for ages. Tyler Marsh’s plans collapsed at the perimeter; his team couldn’t keep up with Atlanta’s high shooting volume, and their defense left a lot to be desired. But as always, it all came down to one crucial moment. 

The third quarter. Or as Chicago fans might know it, the bane of their existence. These two back-to-backs have proved that the Sky players don’t keep their foot on the gas for long, and their momentum fizzles out at the beginning of the second half. It wouldn’t hurt as much if defeat were imminent from the very beginning, but this third-quarter collapse has been quite frustrating. Blowing leads is the easiest way to lose morale. “We were up most of the game, first quarter, second quarter, and our third quarters just haven’t been very strong.” Angel Reese said on Tuesday, after a heartwrenching loss to the Washington Mystics.

Time and again, the third quarter has become their Bermuda Triangle – a place where leads vanish and games spiral out of reach. Take their May 28 matchup against the Mercury, for example. The Sky were cruising with a 16-point lead, but by the end of the third quarter? That cushion deflated fast to just four points. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Tuesday happened. The Mystics outscored Chicago 24-12 in the third, turning a close game into another “maybe next time” moment.

But even after Reese’s silent plea to her teammates, this past weekend has been an exhibition of old habits dying hard! Because then came Saturday’s showdown. Already trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Sky gave up three back-to-back-to-back threes – courtesy of Kathryn Westbeld, Kahleah Copper, and Monique Akoa Makani. That trio’s shooting spree turned the Mercury’s lead into a 21-point jumping hurdle. And before the Sky could blink (or defend), they were down by 30 with three minutes still left in the quarter. Then came Sunday, and a similar storyline followed. And Veteran center Elizabeth Williams, or E-Will as her teammates know her, revealed the Sky’s reaction to such an embarrassment. 

In the post-game presser after losing to the Dream 90-83, E-Will and Ariel Atkins discussed their plans going into the second half. “[The third quarter] was a point of emphasis for us. We know we’ve struggled in third quarters. And again, I think the mindset from the jump for the game, was a level focus. We took care of the ball today, we moved it, we’re communicating. We did a lot of things right today, especially in the third. And I think there was just an increased level of focus especially after how the last game went.” But here’s the thing that stung the most in the game.

The Dream vs. Sky matchup was a textbook example of why learning from your mistakes is important. That message came in the light of Atlanta’s back-to-back fourth-quarter collapses – first they did so like a folding chair against the New York Liberty, then nearly coughed up another one to the Mystics. Across those two games, the Dream were outscored 57-33 in the fourth quarter alone. Against New York, they blew a 17-point second-half lead; against Washington, they let an 11-point lead vanish just like that.

On Sunday against the Sky, it looked like we were headed for another episode in this saga. The third quarter ended with the score tied at 69, and the Sky barely edged it 24-23, thanks almost entirely to a parade to the free-throw line, where they went 14-of-15. Even Dream head coach Karl Smesko had to tip his hat, saying, “They were aggressive..they were attacking. We just had to make sure that we can guard without putting them at the foul line. … That kind of made the third quarter kind of tough.”

But, unlike Sky, Atlanta hit the “We’re Not Doing This Again” switch and outpaced the Sky down the stretch, finishing strong with a win, and sent Chicago packing with a 3-10 record and, presumably, a very quiet locker room. However, there are larger issues at play for the Sky. Their perimeter defense has become the laughing stock of the WNBA, and teams are exploiting this liability every chance they get. What does the Chicago Sky vet have to say about all of this?

“They shoot a lot of threes against us,” Angel Reese’s veteran teammate points out glaring defensive issue for the Chicago Sky

The three-point line is Chicago’s kryptonite. Both offensively and defensively, Tyler Marsh’s squad struggles from deep. When they have the ball, they only manage to convert about 30% of their shot attempts from three. And let’s not get started on what happens if the other team has the rock. We’ve seen it all weekend long, and we’ve been seeing it since the start of the season. 

There has been an unwelcome addition to Chicago’s records, as they have allowed three teams to score 16+ three-pointers so far this season, and we’re only 13 games in! In the post-game interview, E-Will was asked what the Sky can do to mitigate the impact of the three-ball, and she had the simplest reply possible.

“Just running people off the line at this point,” Williams said. She then brought up quite an interesting point about the league’s strategy against Chicago. “I think teams make a lot of threes because they also shoot a lot of threes against us. So we have to adjust to that and knowing that teams are playing kind of outside in against us. So just a higher level of aggression running people off the line.” 

Chicago’s opponents are averaging about 27 and a half three-pointers attempted per game, the third-most in the league, and are converting about 40% of them on average! Of course, they’ll want to shoot from outside if it’s going in – why would they not? But Tyler Marsh and his team will have to buckle down and figure out what the root cause of this failure actually is. 

Unless the Sky can resolve this three-point crisis, a revival is next to impossible. In the modern game, there’s nothing more important than shooting from beyond the arc. It’s bad enough that they can’t muster up the threes on offense, but they certainly don’t have the liberty to allow teams to shoot at such a high rate on defense either! It will be interesting to see how Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky deal with this threat, as it has the danger of ruining any chances of a late post-season comeback.