
While Angel Reese's star continues to rise inside and outside the WNBA, one thing that has not quite risen yet has been her offensive stats on the floor for the Chicago Sky. Reese is leading the league with 12.3 rebounds per game, but she is averaging just 10.0 points and shooting only 31.1% from the field, both of which are down from her rookie year, in which she shot 39.1% and averaged 13.6 points.
Reese's turnover numbers have also jumped to 3.8 per game, from 2.2 last year.
She has not had a game in which she has shot 50% from the field this season and, in fact, has only had one game in which she made 40%, on May 25 against the Aces.
But the Sky have essentially had a week off here in early June, having last played on Sunday against the Wings, a team they beat twice last week to bolster their record.
Before the start of Saturday's showdown against the Indiana Fever, who are still playing without star guard Caitlin Clark (quad), Reese chatted with the new CBS Sports pregame show, hosted by Sarah Kustok and featuring Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley.
Staley engaged Reese on a question about her sophomore WNBA season, and how it compared to her rookie year.
"Obviously, I started off rough. I feel like it's gonna come. But I trust my work, I trust my teammates, my coaches have a lot of confidence in me as well,' Reese said.
Staley also asked Reese what viewers could expect from her on Saturday. "We need to get a win tonight. Obviously having this two-game winning streak isn't enough for us so getting this win is going to be great," she said.
Kustok asked about the Sky hitting their stride with two straight wins, boosting their record to 2-4 to start the season. Both of those wins, again, came against the struggling Dallas Wings.
"We're gelling at the right time," Reese told Staley and Kustok. "We're not supposed to look now in June how we look in September. We have great vets here who have kept me and Kamilla poised, our young players. We have great people around us. This week off has been great for us, we had great practices."
The game tipped off just after 8 p.m. ET.
More must-reads:
Happy 70th birthday to two-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl XXI MVP, Phil Simms! Simms played in 14 NFL seasons, all with the New York Giants. As a rookie out of Morehead State, Simms started 11 games and finished second in the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Ottis Anderson in 1979. While Simms won two Super Bowl rings, it was Super Bowl XXI he started and threw three touchdowns to zero interceptions to beat the Denver Broncos. Which brings us to today’s quiz. How many of the players to be named Super Bowl MVP can you name in eight minutes? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
George Pickens is having an outstanding first season with the Dallas Cowboys, and the career-best pace has come at a time when he is preparing for potential free agency. Is it possible the star wide receiver could sign an extension before he gets to that point? Pickens says that is up to his boss. Pickens, who was drafted in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, is in the final season of his rookie contract. He was asked on Thursday if he would consider signing a new deal with the Cowboys before he becomes a free agent after the season. He had a noteworthy response. "That’s kinda up to what (Jerry Jones) wants to do. All I can do is perform at my best," Pickens said. George Pickens has earned No. 1 wideout money Pickens has 685 receiving yards through the first eight weeks of the season, which ranks third in the NFL. His six touchdown catches are already the most of his four-year career. CeeDee Lamb missed several games this season with an ankle injury, and Pickens showed during that time that he is more than capable of being the featured wideout in a quality offense. That should go a long way toward setting his market, whether he re-signs with the Cowboys or becomes a free agent. With Lamb making an average of $34M per year, the Cowboys probably cannot afford to keep Pickens. For now, the 24-year-old is at least giving off the impression that he is open to the possibility. He also suggested recently that money is not the most important thing to him with his next contract, which could keep Dallas in the running.
The Washington Nationals were one of a handful of teams heading into the offseason needing a new manager. The Nats fired former manager Dave Martinez, who helped lead them to their first World Series title in 2019, ahead of the All-Star break. They then had to decide if they wanted to keep interim manager Miguel Cairo or head in another direction. The Nationals decided to go in a different direction, announcing on Thursday that they are set to hire the youngest MLB manager in over 50 years. Nationals will hire Blake Butera to be their next manager After going 29-43 after taking over for Martinez, the Nationals decided that Cairo wasn't the man to lead them forward. Washington is hiring 33-year-old Blake Butera to be its next manager, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Butera will be a new voice to pair with the new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni, who took over for former executive Mike Rizzo. According to Passan, Butera will be the youngest manager in more than 50 years. Butera joins Oliver Marmol (39) of the St. Louis Cardinals as the only managers in baseball under 40 years old. In his four-year career as a minor league manager in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Butera accumulated a 258-144 record. That should bode well for him going to Washington, especially after six straight losing seasons. A former 35th-round draft pick of the Rays, Butera is also a former two-time minor league Manager of the Year in the Rays organization and was the bench coach for Team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Nationals need to give Blake Butera everything he needs to be successful Being so young and "inexperienced," Toboni and the Nationals organization will need to surround Butera with a veteran coaching staff. In particular, an experienced bench coach to help guide him through being a big league manager. Someone like former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington would be a good hire to help guide Butera, given his managerial experience and longtime coaching. Coming from the Rays organization, Butera can bring over things he's learned there to help the Nationals improve as an organization. The Rays are consistently at the forefront of analytics and new, innovative ways to build a successful baseball team. Having a young roster and only two players with a decade in the big leagues (Josh Bell and Trevor Williams), Butera should find it easy to connect with some of his younger players, given his age. However, veterans may find it hard to listen to someone as inexperienced as Butera, which he’ll need to work on if the Nationals add any more to help mentor their young core.
The Golden State Warriors traded away Ryan Rollins in 2023 after one season and 12 games with the team. Thursday night, Rollins showed the Warriors what they missed out on. With Giannis Antetokounmpo out with an injury, Rollins scored a career-high 32 points and dished out eight assists as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Warriors, 120-110. Rollins went 5-for-7 from three-point range, tying his career best, and went 13-for-21 overall. In the last four minutes after the Warriors got within points, Rollins had eight points and an assists. Oh, and he outscored Stephen Curry, 32-27. Warriors gave up on Ryan Rollins after one season Golden State traded up to draft Rollins with the No. 44 pick in the 2022 draft, believing that the then-19-year-old guard from Toledo could help it reload their championship roster, which was getting up in age. But Rollins missed Summer League due to a foot injury, then suffered a season-ending Jones fracture. After the season, the Warriors sent Rollins and fellow 2022 draftee Patrick Baldwin, Jr. to the Washington Wizards along with Jordan Poole. In exchange, they got 38-year-old Chris Paul, a serious reversal in the team's earlier youth movement. Rollins was included in the deal to help the Warriors dump Poole's contract, which spanned four more seasons, and to ditch his own guaranteed deal. After a troubled partial season in Washington, the Wizards waived Rollins and he caught on with the Bucks in February 2024. Ryan Rollins' huge night showed the 23-year-old's improvement One game after Rollins had a career-high 25 points against the New York Knicks, he set another career high, this time without Antetokounmpo there to score 37 points and take up the defense's attention. Even with a great defensive player like Jimmy Butler on him, Rollins delivered in the clutch. Rollins has gone 9-for-11 from three-point range in his last two games, but it doesn't feel like a fluke. Last year he shot 40.8% on threes and hit 80% of his free throws, a strong indicator Rollins can truly shoot the ball. He also had 12 steals in his first four games, and while he didn't have a takeaway Thursday night, Rollins has more steals than turnovers (10) on the season and an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio of 5-to-2. Last season, Rollins was a solid reserve, averaging 6.2 points and 1.9 assists while starting 19 games. But with Damian Lillard suffering an Achilles tear and then being waived by the Bucks, Rollins got an opportunity, and got an even bigger one when Kevin Porter, Jr. sprained his ankle in the season opener. Rollins looks like he's going to have a serious future in the NBA. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that future won't be with them.
 +
							+
								Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!





 
								 
								 
								