For the third season in a row, the Chicago Sky have failed to qualify for the postseason. And while dark clouds are forming over the franchise now and head coach Tyler Marsh’s position is under scrutiny, Natasha Cloud has an umbrella ready.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Following the Sky’s loss against the Washington Mystics in the final game of the regular season, Natasha Cloud had a rather positive outlook on the season. The Sky guard commended General Manager Jeff Pagliocca’s work and believed the team would have qualified for the playoffs if not for injuries.
“I want to say this outwardly to the media: Even though we didn’t get into playoffs this year, Jeff [Pagliocca], as the GM, made so many decisions to win now and to win this season.” Cloud said in the press conference, via Front Office Sports’ Colin Salao on X.
“And so I think when he orchestrated this team together, there was a lot of questions of: Would it work? Would the personalities on this team work? Would the talent level on this team work? And I would argue that if we had a healthy team, we are a playoff team and probably a top five playoff team.”
Cloud’s comments indirectly also back head coach Marsh, since Pagliocca was one of the key people in his hiring. However, she also backed Marsh in August and said he should be given grace as a second-year head coach after taking over a struggling franchise coming to Chicago. This was Cloud’s way of saying that Marsh is not the only problem for the franchise’s failures of the past few seasons.
But in two seasons, the 38-year-old has been unsuccessful in pushing the team to playoff contention. With another regular season done and dusted, Marsh now faces an uncertain future
This is a notorious time for head coaches to get canned, and Los Angeles Sparks’ Lynne Roberts was the most recent example of it. Regardless, Marsh has not received the axe yet, and he revealed on Thursday why he is still the right coach to lead the team to glory.
‘‘We’ve been able to see some level of improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, but it’s less about me stating my case and just letting you know that I love this team. I love being the head coach of this team. I don’t take it for granted or lightly.”
Before his tenure as Sky head coach, Marsh has worked extensively as an assistant and player development coach for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and the 2019 championship-winning Toronto Raptors. He recently told the Sun-Times that leading the Sky is a dream come true moment for him.
‘‘I’ve hoped to have had some impact on our players and our community and our fan base and our front office and our support staff, and I’ll let the chips fall where [they] may. I’m not the decision-maker. If I’m back, I will continue to give it my all. And if I’m not, then that’s the decision that is made, and I will be grateful for the two years that I’ve had.’’ Marsh added.
Still, Marsh knows that he is not the safest coach in the WNBA. This is because Pagliocca stated in July that injuries should not be an excuse for the team to miss out on the playoffs again. The Sky last appeared in the postseason in 2023, and Pagliocca was hired as GM on October 31, 2023. So the Sky has not participated in the playoffs since the beginning of his tenure.
Coming to injuries, which Cloud also mentioned, the Sky guard herself had been sidelined due to a left knee injury this month. Apart from her, Skylar Diggins missed the business end of the regular season with a knee injury of her own, and Rickea Jackson has been out since May following a torn ACL in her left knee against the Minnesota Lynx.
DiJonai Carrington, Aicha Coulibaly, and Azura Stevens have also entered the injury list this season.
Only time will tell whether Marsh remains the Sky’s head coach next season. Until then, he will count down the days of the offseason.