Top 3 takeaways from the Sky's first preseason game

Tyler Marsh and his 2025 Chicago Sky hit the court for the first time with a preseason game against the Brazilian National Team at Lousiana State University. They picked up the win, 89-62, but what stood out from the first preseason game?

More Confidence Offensively

It is a night and day difference from an offensive standpoint for the Chicago Sky. Across the board, each player has a more confident approach to their shot, finding their teammates spots and crashing the glass. The confidence is specifically showing out of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Both post players felt comfortable with some shots behind the restricted area and also saw some of them fall. Reese is playing with more patience, something that her teammates noticed during training camp.

"You’ve seen in practice that she’s very patient with herself," Michaela Onyenwere said at practice. "She’ll bring down the offensive rebound and she’ll take her time. That’s something that will benefit us but also benefit her as well."

Reese emphasized that after her double-double performance in 16 minutes with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

"Just being able to stay poised," Reese said after the game. "I know I can get the rebound, but just being able to take my time around the basket and using that to my advantage. This was offseason was about being able to find my touch around the basket and finishing through contact."

Outside of the Skyscrapers, the 3-point shot is falling with the team as a whole knocking them down. In 2024, the Sky averaged just 15 3-point attempts a game. The 2025 Sky took 12 in just the first half, making 41.6% of them - a monumental improvement already from 2024.

"We want that to be part of our game," Marsh said after the win. "We're not sure how it's going to come. I think it'll be in transition. I think some will be off of how Angel is able to attack the paint and how we're able to utilize Kamilla in the post as well. It's part of how we emphasize our spacing, and that's what we want to create. We want to create open drives to the lane and kickout 3's."

Playing With Pace

Marsh emphasized in his pregame press conference that he was looking at execution and pace of play in this preseason game. Pace of play was something he also emphasized at practice in the days leading up to the preseason game.

"Definitely pace of play, selfless basketball which I love, loves the 3-pointer," Rachel Banham said at practice. "Defensively just disrupting, making people uncomfortable, playing on a string together. It’s not just gunna be one person that gets it done. It’s going to be all 5 of us."

That theme was shown almost immmediately by the Sky. Courtney Vandersloot was pushing up transitional passes, Reese made baseball passes to get quick buckets early and Moriah Jefferson pushed the ball up the floor to get the offensive set going early. This was just a faster team than what fans saw in 2024 where the first shot attempt wouldn't go off until under 15 seconds left in the shot clock.

"Once we got our second wind, we were able to push it even more," Marsh said. "We started off the game pretty well and then eased up a little bit with our pace and then got back to it. I think that just comes with game shape, but for us, that's the pace that we want to play with. We have an active and mobile team, and it's not always about pushing it with the dribble or with our speed getting up and down the floor. It's pushing it with the passes as well."

Depth, Depth, Depth

What the Chicago Sky also lacked in 2024 - moreso due to injury - was depth across the board. Yes, there are 18 players on the training camp roster so it looks like more depth now. However, even when cuts happen, the Sky could go 2-3 deep for almost every position because of the utility assets they added on contract.

Kia Nurse started the game as a wing and finished with 11 points and 2 rebounds. Then Rebecca Allen came in and had some various looks at the shooting guard and the wing positions. Michaela Onyenwere played the power forward spot with Elizabeth Williams while Reese and Cardoso got some rest minutes.

There is depth throughout the roster that can give Marsh the ability to have some fun when it comes to lineup construction. He can go to a "smaller" roster while still having some size with that lineup with Onyenwere and Williams. He can go real big if he wanted to have Allen in with Reese and Cardoso. There's a lot more flexibility with the roster compared to 2024.

While cuts have yet to be made, this Chicago Sky team is already looking completely different and selfless in just a single preseason game. Once the roster gets set in the next couple weeks, the on-court chemistry will continue to develop to create more offensive rhythm. Yes, it's only a preseason game, but this is a team that can be a sleeper all season and quietly sneak their way up the rankings if they can stay healthy.

Tune in each Monday for a brand new episode of Courtside with Karli Bell wherever you get your podcasts.