It is beginning to look like the Chicago Sky’s win-now project is struggling to deliver on its promise. They abandoned their youth-led rebuilding project, and went on a massive roster overhaul designed to prioritize proven veteran winners. A quarter of the season has now gone by, and across 12 games, the Sky have managed just four wins. And yet, head coach Tyler Marsh is not ready to abandon his optimism.

“I mean, that’s what you get with a veteran locker room. And so I think there are things that you can build on from that,” he said, as shared by the Chicago State of Mind Sports page on X. For Marsh, the makeup of the locker room remains a foundation worth building on, even when the results haven’t reflected it yet.

Despite the disappointing run and Tuesday night’s loss, he still sees reasons for belief, particularly in the character of the veteran group he has assembled.

Central to that belief is a sense of collective alignment that he believes still exists within the group. “There’s obviously a common ground in terms of where we feel like we’re at as a team. And where we all want to go and be,” he said. And speaking of where they want to be, he is referring to the competitive qualities that he believes this veteran roster possesses. “You want that level of competitiveness, you want that passion, you want that toughness. You want that intensity that keeps a level of urgency amongst everyone,” he added.

To be fair to the Sky, it hasn’t been entirely doom and gloom. They actually opened the season with a promising 3-1 start that suggested the veteran-heavy approach might work. But injuries have derailed the momentum significantly, most notably the season-ending ACL injury to Rickea Jackson. Since then, the Sky have lost seven of their last eight games, including five in a row. And the early promise of that start feels like a distant memory.

Tyler Marsh, however, is leaning on perspective rather than panic. “We’re a quarter of the way done in the season,” he said. “So there’s a quarter of the way that you can’t get back. But there’s also three quarters of a season that you have left in front of you to right the ship. And so we’re committed to each other. We’re committed to the process, that’s been the communication, and so we’re aligned from that standpoint.” 

Their next opportunity to back those words with action comes against the Indiana Fever. For a Sky fanbase that has been patient through a difficult stretch, they will be hoping to see that commitment and alignment translate into a result, and soon.

Coach Tyler Marsh Says Chicago Sky Made Progress Despite Loss to Atlanta Dream

Despite the loss to the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh believes there were positives to take away from the performance. Speaking in the postgame press conference, Marsh explained that he saw growth from the team in several important areas despite the disappointing result. “From a communication standpoint, and an effort, and a chemistry standpoint, I think that we made progress in those areas today,” he said.

Marsh went on to point out some of the things he felt the Sky did well throughout the contest. While the result ultimately did not go their way, the coach was encouraged by the team’s performance on both ends of the floor and believed they gave themselves opportunities to come away with a victory. “I think we defended them as well as you can defend them. We had our opportunities and our chances offensively,” he said.

And of course, Tyler Marsh did agree that there are no moral victories, much like veteran guard Natasha Cloud said after the game. However, Cloud also made it clear that she was pleased with the way the team competed and executed for much of the night. “There’s no moral victories, but god damn it, I’ll take the way that we played tonight any day. This is the hardest, the most consistent over I would say about like 30 probably forty minutes of play,” she said.

And just like she said, the Chicago Sky actually played remarkably tough and held a lead heading into the final frame. But they lost 16-8 over the game’s final five minutes. Angel Reese was especially effective against her former team, racking up a massive 17 points and 17 rebounds.

The goal now, as Tyler Marsh indicated, is to carry that level of performance and the progress the team showed into its next game. If the Sky can continue building on those positives, they will hope to find the extra edge needed to turn a strong effort into a win.