Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh has been known to be a measured presence on the sideline during his time coaching the team. However, after another physical outing from center Kamilla Cardoso ended without a single trip to the free-throw line, the coach hit his breaking point.
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After the Sky’s 106-101 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on August 4, Marsh was extremely harsh on the officiating, telling reporters in the post-game conference that Cardoso is not getting the whistle that her style of play calls for. The head coach expressed his frustrations in a clip posted to Instagram by @justwomenssports.
“It was a joke. It’s a f****** joke. How many more games does she need to go without getting a free throw? It makes no sense. Zero sense.”
His comments came on a night when Cardoso was productive as usual, with nearly every other frontcourt option for the Sky sidelined. She logged 16 points and 13 rebounds, both team highs, and added five assists and a block, receiving the bulk of the attention from interior defenders. However, despite that, Cardoso didn’t attempt a single free throw all game.
Marsh made it clear that he did not blame the officials for the outcome of the game, acknowledging that his team put the Mercury on the charity stripe too often, but that Cardoso’s lack of opportunity has become impossible to ignore.
“No, it didn’t come down to that,” Marsh added.
“We fought our a**** off today. We could have been more disciplined, put them on the line 40 times. I’m not saying the officials made 40 wrong calls or 20 wrong calls, whatever it is. Not saying that at all. But for her to play as hard as she does consistently, she doesn’t give much pushback to the officials. I try to talk as calmly as I can to officials before it gets out of hand. It’s a joke.”
Marsh’s concerns are clearly visible with a look at the stat sheet. Phoenix attempted 40 free throws to Chicago’s 25, despite only fouling five more times.
However, this isn’t the first time Marsh has come to Cardoso’s defense. Just a few days earlier, on July 30, the Sky beat the Connecticut Sun in a game where the 6’7″ center shot a season-high 11 free throws, leading the head coach to speak in her favor.
“I can make a case that she should shoot close to 11 free throws every game. I think she gets held a ton… To go games where she has zero to five free throws, it just doesn’t make sense to me. And the film doesn’t lie either.”
Kamilla Cardoso finished the game against the Mercury leading the Sky with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She also added five assists, shooting 53.3% from the field. Cardoso currently averages 3.9 free throws per game, which ranks behind other elite frontcourt players, including Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and several guards. All of this is despite her game being built around post touches and physical finishes at the rim, all areas which traditionally generate free throws in droves.
Regardless of whether things continue this way, Tyler Marsh has made it clear that Kamilla Cardoso deserves more.