Sky learn defense must come first in season-opening loss at Fever

“Those days of 50-, 60-point games that he’s used to are over with,” Marsh said when he was introduced back in November. “We wanna score.”

For a team that struggled to do just that last season, Marsh’s offensive mindset is a welcome change. 

But the Sky won’t make it very far if they can’t defend. They found that out the hard way in Marsh’s first regular-season game as a head coach, a 93-58 drubbing to the Indiana Fever.

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The Fever were a difficult first draw, featuring one of the league’s deepest rosters. DeWanna Bonner, who just became the WNBA’s third all-time leading scorer, might be their fourth offensive option behind Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell.

Marsh’s plan was to slow the Fever down and limit paint touches. But the Sky got beat in both areas: the Fever feasted in the paint and outscored the Sky 16-11 in transition. 

Afterward, Marsh pointed to inconsistency on defense and an ice-cold shooting night (6-27 from beyond the arc).

It was exactly the kind of night that proves his dad’s point: defense matters when you’re struggling to hit the 60-point mark.

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How offseason moves lifted the Sky’s ceiling on defense

To be clear, Marsh values defense. Throughout training camp he’s emphasized toughness and physicality as the team’s baseline. 

He’s in lockstep with general manager Jeff Pagliocca on that. While adding shooting was a major offseason priority, the front office also wanted to get stronger defensively.

Their biggest offseason move? Trading for Ariel Atkins, a five-time All-Defensive Team selection.

“We can’t just hope that all the threes go in or that Courtney Vandersloot is being a wizard every night,” Pagliocca told The Next at media day.

“Every [offseason] decision we made regardless of how well we thought someone could shoot a ball, we tried to make sure it was attached to a two-way player,” he added.

Opening night backed that up. The threes weren’t falling. Vandersloot wasn’t wizarding. But Atkins held her own defensively, pressuring the ball and chasing Caitlin Clark around screens all night. She helped hold Clark to 3-for-9 shooting in the first half before Clark ultimately broke loose for a triple-double.  

As Marsh put it after the game: containing Clark is a team effort, and the Sky didn’t quite hold up.

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Cardoso and Reese also need to grow

Success on defense won’t just be about roster upgrades. Sophomore cornerstones Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese also need to grow.

Reese set the tone months ago, telling herself before the Unrivaled league began, “Let’s focus on one thing going into here, and that’s defense.”

The focus paid off: she ended up winning Defensive Player of the Year. Her next goal? Make the All-Defensive team in the WNBA. 

Cardoso, meanwhile, returned from her offseason in China with more confidence. As a rookie, she ranked fifth in the league in block rate — and second-year players often take a leap after learning schemes and opponent tendencies.

But in the season opener, that potential didn’t materialize. Cardoso struggled, while opposing center Aliyah Boston finished with 19 points and five blocks. Progress won’t happen overnight.

Settling the offense vs. defense debate

So who’s right — father or son? 

Recent WNBA history favors the younger Marsh. Five of the last six titles have gone to the league’s top offense, while the league’s best defense has only won twice.

But this season could buck the trend. Most general managers expect the Minnesota Lynx — last year’s top defense — to win the title. And that’s the team Marsh uses most often as a teaching tool. 

“They don’t get away from what they are,” Marsh said of the Lynx preseason. “They apply pressure when they’re able to. They’re disciplined. They’re well-coached. Those are all aspects of a mature team and that’s where we want to get to.”

Was that the younger or the older Marsh talking?

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