So, Angel Reese is officially back in Chicago for the first time since being traded. And today is going to be an interesting game. A very, very interesting game because I think we’re looking realistically at a game where it’s preseason, but a bit more. There are times where preseason means a little bit more. Fever versus Mystics last year, Sky versus Lynx last year. And there are times where maybe the result doesn’t matter, but what happens on the floor when the starters play starters does matter. This is one of those games.
So, here is Kareem Copeland talking to Angel Reese. Let’s listen to what she is saying.
At first, it’s been great. They put the pressure on me to take the shots. And I’ve been able to get better, obviously, in the offseason, but in a week and a half, I can tell the difference within my shot. And just being able to have teammates that are super confident in me. They put me on the spot and make me shoot the shot. So, when I’m in front of thousands of people, then it’s nothing and it’s easy. So, I’m really grateful for them. I’m really grateful for my coaches. And I’m just really happy to be in this moment. Coming back to a familiar place feels great. I have a home here still. So, it’s always good seeing Chicago, the amazing city. It looks beautiful. So, I’m happy to be back. And obviously being in the familiar places that I’ve done a lot of great things here.
And I got to be real. I am expecting minimum five three-point attempts tonight. This is going to be one of those ones where the Dream are clearly trying to get Angel to shoot more. That’s not a secret. The Dream are trying to get Angel Reese to shoot more threes. And the expectation for me is that we’re going to see Angel Reese letting it fly. I think we’re going to see her shooting minimum five threes tonight.
And yeah, this game is going to be interesting because it’s a completely new-look Chicago Sky team. It’s a Chicago Sky team that ironically she probably would have liked to have played on. The problem is you don’t get Azurá Stevens if Angel is there. You just don’t because Azurá is not sitting on a bench. And I don’t know if you get Skylar Diggins there.
But I do think Skylar was a lot of Courtney Vandersloot scouting, which is kind of mad. Cheryl Swoopes is also going after Courtney Vandersloot as well, which is hilarious.
Now, Cheryl Swoopes is going after Courtney Vandersloot, but at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, Angel Reese is a very polarizing player and this game is going to be extremely interesting because, if we’re being real here, the Chicago Sky players — I’m not saying there’s a personal hatred between Angel Reese and the Sky players. I think there is a professional competitiveness.
If you’ve ever played sports, you know that players and teams sometimes get more up for games after a player leaves. Even if they’re your friends, they still want to go harder against you because you left that team. And I think this is going to be a fun one. I think it’s going to be a fun one in preseason.
The Atlanta Dream aren’t carrying that many players who are not going to make the team. And the Sky are. But it’s an early game. It’s on at the same time as the Sun and the Tempo, which is almost the most irrelevant game ever.
The Sun have already soft-fired their coach. When they’re literally going to Houston, they’ve already fired him for the trip. He’s already taken the Galatasaray job. So, I don’t even know if Rachid Meziane is staying because his season ends during WNBA training camp.
But yeah, this one is going to be a fun game. Courtney Vandersloot is not even playing either. Skylar Diggins wasn’t even on the team with Angel Reese and she’s still going to make it personal. That’s just the way Skylar Diggins is. She’s going to go out of her way to make it a personal thing.
Angel Reese left the team, or she wanted to leave, and it becomes a very interesting game.
During the regular season, not that I’m saying the Sky are better than the Dream, but I do think they’re one tier apart. There’s the Aces and Liberty tier, and then there’s the next tier which, for me, is the Fever, the Mercury, and the Dream. And I put the Sky in the same tier as the Sparks and the Valkyries.
It’s not going to end like that regular season-wise, but I’ll go over my power rankings later. There’s only one tier difference between these two teams. I think they’re going to go at it. I think they’re going to really play hard.
Whether it’s for half the game or two-thirds of the game, I think both of these teams want to win.
Like we saw last year, the Atlanta Dream went for it against the Indiana Fever. The Atlanta Dream do not take preseason lightly. They were good last year in preseason.
If you look at Dream versus Fever in preseason, the Fever won 81-76. But if you look at the box score and the minutes, it was basically their real rotation playing. Bri Jones played 20 minutes. Griner checked out immediately, but Rhyne Howard played 26, Walker-Kimbrough started, and the rotation was active.
The Fever also played most of their main rotation minutes too. Sophie Cunningham got hurt in that game, but it was still a real game.
The Atlanta Dream don’t just roll over for teams in preseason, and they’re definitely not going to roll over for a team like the Chicago Sky with the whole injury situation.
Anyway, yeah, that is the video. See you guys.
ALSO READ: LATEST TRENDING NEWS
