Programming Note: The Sky Townies will be publishing EVERY GAME DAY OF THE PLAYOFFS. Let’s do this Skytown.
Is there anything worse than getting all excited for your team’s first playoff game and then having them get blown out, pretty much from the jump? Maybe not. Wednesday’s 87-59 loss to the Aces made me really, really sad.
The Townies figured the post-game message from head coach Emre Vatansever was something along the lines of, “forget it,” so I won’t linger too much on the game. I’ll just quickly review the five keys to the series/secret weapons that we discussed on Wednesday, none of which went in our favor.
Sky’s Supposed Secret Weapons
Having a winning mindset→ The one player who came out with such a mindset—Alanna Smith—picked up her third foul in the first quarter, which seemed to deflate any chance we had at toughness/confidence.
A’ja Wilson forgetting how to play basketball→ A’ja Wilson did not in fact forget how to play basketball, scoring eight points in the first quarter and finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. A solid, if not great night for her.
Experience being in do-or-die mode→ We looked to be in “being eaten alive by mosquitoes” mode, if the Aces were dominant, hoopin’ mosquitos.
Superior bench→ Through the end of three quarters, our bench had only scored two baskets, while Alysha Clark, the Aces sixth man, played very well. Overall their bench outscored ours 17-16 (mostly Clark).
Three-point shooting→ Was bad, and we really missed an opportunity because the Aces shot only 32% from three. We were 5-22 (22.3%) from three, meaning our record when we shoot below 33% is now 1-15.
Are the Aces Just Too Good at Defense?
The main question I was left with after the game was: was our inability to play offense—to complete passes, to get the ball in the paint, to create open shots—mostly a result of the Aces defense, or our own flaws?
On one hand, it feels sort of reasonable to look at that game and be like damn, the Aces have elite defenders at every position, no wonder we couldn’t get anything going. For most players, having two blocks in a game is a notable feat—for A’ja Wilson, having two blocks in one possession is just pretty darn regular.
I definitely think the Aces make it harder to score than any other team in the league. But also.
A basketball mentor of mine pointed out that the Sky were shooting so so many shots off the dribble on Wednesday, as opposed to taking rhythm shots off the catch.
That’s been true all season.
It’s tough, because Kahleah Copper, Marina Mabrey, and Courtney Williams’ strength is shooting of the bounce1, but I think that when we face great defenses, they rely on that too much, rather than working to get each other easier looks off the catch.
Final Thoughts
Especially during the playoffs, I think there’s pressure for the fans to act a certain way: to be positive no matter what, to believe in the team, and maybe that IS what it means to be a good fan.
It was just hard to be a good fan in Game 1. Though I agree with my fellow Townies that the Sky have gotten better over the course of the season, I still kinda feel like we’re a collection of individuals, rather than a team.
I’m not sure what to do with that feeling.
For now, I’m revisiting a Lynx fan’s advice for how to cope when your team is struggling.
“It’s almost like making it through a really tough winter. You know you don’t really have another option. You have to weather the storm, sleet, and snow and hope for spring time. Maybe you buy another winter jacket to bulk up or you embrace the cold and just go with it. I think I’m getting lost in my metaphor now, but the gist of it is that sometimes your team sucks, but that’s okay, because everyone loves an underdog story so the worse you are, the bigger the reward is in the end.”
After the Game 1 sadness, a win today would be a pretty nice reward.
Our next playoff game is TODAY Sunday, September 17th @ 2 p.m. CT against the Las Vegas Aces. Watch on ABC.
Our Lead Basketball Analyst points out that Mabrey is actually better off the catch.