Are Marsh’s skill development and the Sky’s potential a perfect match?
Credit to Author: Michael Voepel, Alexa Philippou and Kevin Pelton| Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2024 19:46:41 EST
Tyler Marsh is the Chicago Sky‘s new head coach, ESPN reported Saturday, as another of Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon’s assistants moves to take control of a WNBA team.
The Sky fired Teresa Weatherspoon in September after just one season, a move that Chicago rookie forward Angel Reese lamented on social media. The Sky leadership offered little explanation about that decision. In moving to Marsh, the Sky hopes he will bring some of the Aces’ formula for success with him.
Marsh will be the Sky’s fourth coach since 2023, when James Wade left the franchise midseason to become a Toronto Raptors assistant. Wade’s assistant Emre Vatansever moved into an interim role with Chicago but wasn’t retained after going 11-13 and seeing the Sky lose in the first round of the playoffs. Weatherspoon was hired in October 2023, then fired less than a year later.
Like Natalie Nakase, who was named coach of the expansion Golden State Valkyries on Oct. 10, Marsh spent the past three seasons on Hammon’s staff, winning WNBA titles in 2022 and 2023. Marsh was head of player development in Las Vegas and known for his ability to help players improve specific parts of their games.
The Sky, led by post players Reese and Kamilla Cardoso and guard Chennedy Carter, finished 10th at 13-27 this season, missing the playoffs. But Reese and Cardoso were on the WNBA’s All-Rookie team and Carter had her best season since her rookie year. The Sky have two first-round picks in the 2025 draft, including one in the lottery, so more young talent should be on the way.
With Stephanie White getting the Indiana job Friday and Marsh the Chicago job Saturday, the remaining coach openings are for the Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun (which White left), Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics. There also will be holes in 2026 for expansion teams Portland and Toronto.
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Kevin Pelton and Michael Voepel discuss Marsh’s move, and what it means for the Sky and the Aces.
Philippou: The Sky had a tumultuous 2024 campaign, with a lot of roster uncertainty lingering: Half their roster hit free agency this offseason, including most prominently, Chennedy Carter (a restricted free agent).
Despite all that, the direction for Chicago is clear: Marsh and general manager Jeff Pagliocca will be building around 2024 first-round draft picks Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky also have a lottery pick in the 2025 draft (though due to a pick swap with Dallas, they won’t end up with the No. 1 pick). The player development backgrounds of Marsh and Pagliocca should be a boon for Reese, Cardoso and (if they re-sign her) Carter in their young professional careers.
Chicago won the WNBA title in 2021, but things have been anything but steady since then, with that championship core departing for other teams and more recently the franchise quickly moving on from Weatherspoon. Stability and getting the franchise back to the playoffs are big-picture goals for Marsh’s tenure, as well as fixing the Sky’s lackluster offense. Pagliocca and Marsh will look to find ways to space the floor with shooters to open things for their young bigs down low.
Reese seemed to praise the hiring by posting on X minutes after the news broke.
W.
Voepel: Reese’s rebounding prowess translated immediately to the WNBA — she led the league averaging 13.1 rebounds — but her 39.1 field goal percentage needs to improve. Marsh has excelled as an assistant at helping players with individual skill work, so that should be something he continues as a head coach. Reese averaged 13.6 points, a number that will improve with more efficient shooting.
The 6-foot-7 Cardoso averaged 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 52.1% from the field. She also has a lot more offensive potential.
The Sky recently broke ground on a new practice facility, which is becoming a must for WNBA teams that want to successfully retain players and lure free agents. If Marsh is able to help Chicago’s young stars develop, it also helps make the franchise a more appealing choice to players.
Pelton: Marsh is unofficially 1-0 as a head coach, having guided the Aces to a 41-point win against the Seattle Storm in their 2023 season opener during Becky Hammon’s two-game league suspension (Nakase coached the second Las Vegas win during that span).
Technically, Hammon gets credit for the victory in her career record, but it was an emotional moment for Marsh, who had his family — including dad Donnie, a longtime men’s college basketball coach who was a head coach at Alabama A&M and Florida International — in attendance.
Marsh’s journey to WNBA head coach took him through men’s college basketball, the G League and the NBA. Before joining the Aces, he won an NBA championship as assistant video coordinator and player development coach with the 2018-19 Raptors. He also spent two seasons as a player development coach with the Indiana Pacers.
All-Star guard Jackie Young was one of Marsh’s success stories in a player development role in Las Vegas. A non-shooter before Hammon’s arrival, Young worked with Marsh to extend her range after hitting 22 total 3-pointers in her first three WNBA campaigns. Over three seasons since, Young has averaged nearly 70 3s at a robust 40% clip.
That kind of skill development will be crucial to a Chicago team that made just 4.8 3-pointers pre game last season — 1.1 fewer than any other WNBA club and barely half of what the Aces averaged in 2024 (9.4).
Pelton: Hammon and the Aces had to know this was coming after the team’s success, winning back-to-back championships in her first two seasons as head coach. Having Marsh and Nakase get head-coaching opportunities in the same offseason is hardly ideal, but Las Vegas can rely on Hammon and holdover assistant Charlene Thomas-Swinson to set the culture while developing another generation of assistant coaches.
I’m intrigued to see where Hammon goes to replace Marsh and Nakase. She plucked both from NBA teams, reflecting Hammon’s relationships within the league after serving as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs as well as the style in whch she wanted the Aces to play. In part due to Hammon’s influence, WNBA X’s and O’s are more similar to the NBA than they were three years ago, which might give Hammon the opportunity to hire from within the W ranks this time.
Voepel: In the past three weeks, the Aces have lost two assistant coaches and fired general manager Natalie Williams. The team is still in good shape for 2025. But with those positions empty and starting guard Kelsey Plum‘s impending free agency, there is a little more uncertainty about the Aces this offseason than in the past two.