Emptying the Notebook: Angel Reese, Road Trips, and Sellouts
Look, I'm grateful for the chartered flight, but this plane is too small for all the notes I've got here.
- Minnesota/Seattle really stole the show in 2OT.
- Jewell Loyd fouled out for the first time.
- It was a near-5×5 for Elizabeth Williams.
- And the Mercury finally managed a win, adding to Taurasi’s collection.
- Arike and Kahleah are on fire.
- Alyssa Thomas is still The
LittleEngine That Could. - I know she can.
- I know she can.
- But really, Kahleah Copper!
Alright, let’s dive deeper in to a few other items…
Louisiana Connection
“I was blocking out and getting the tip-outs. That’s my job. I go out there and grab rebounds.”
And Cheryl Ford was excellent at her job. She gave that quote postgame after the defending champion Detroit Shock won their 2004 season-opener in San Antonio 73-60. Seeking a second title, they capitalized on second-chance points, winning that battle 24-10.
Ford led the way with 21 points, 12 of those second-chancers. Most importantly, she set a WNBA record with 12 offensive rebounds in that game. In the 20 years since, that mark has been matched three times (Sancho Lyttle, Nneka Ogwumike, and Glory Johnson), but no one has done better.
Over their three-championship run from 2003 to 2008, the Shock were so notoriously tough, particularly on the boards, they elicited some classic quotes.
“Fifty to thirty-three — that was a wake-up call,” Taj McWilliams Franklin (an all-time great rebounder in her own right) told reporters, citing exactly how much the Sun were outrebounded by the Shock more than a month prior.
“I mean, duh — that’s what they do,” Asjha Jones added.
As a franchise, the Shock were responsible for three of what is now 23 times a team has recorded an offensive rebounding percentage of 35% or better over an entire WNBA season (2003-05).
Fair to say they dominated the Eastern Conference on the boards during their dynastic run.
Now, 20 years since Ford’s record-breaking game on the O-boards, another Eastern Conference team is making their mark there.
Through two games — and it is absolutely only two games, so don’t read too much into it — the Chicago Sky have posted an offensive rebounding percentage of 39.3%, which would be a record should it extend over the full season. (Again, in the “don’t count on this too much” evidence pile, it’s nowhere near the absurd 50.0% those same 2004 Shock posted in the first two games of their season.)
Where Ford, the Louisiana Tech legend, made the boards her job, a Louisiana State rookie is trying to do the same for this year’s Sky.
In her first two games in the WNBA, Angel Reese grabbed a total of 12 offensive rebounds for the Sky, including seven in the win over the Dallas Wings (who were once Tulsa Shock, who before that were, yeah, those same Detroit Shock).
No other player had that many in their first two WNBA games. Not first-year MVP Yolanda Griffith (10) or rookie rebounding phenom Tina Charles (8). Not the league’s all-time offensive rebounding leader Rebekkah Brunson (just 1) or her longtime teammate and fellow LSU legend Sylvia Fowles (just 2).
| Player | Career Offensive Rebounds |
|---|---|
| Rebekkah Brunson | 1,166 |
| Sylvia Fowles | 1,132 |
| Taj McWilliams-Franklin | 1,062 |
| Yolanda Griffith | 1,049 |
| Tina Charles | 1,038 |
Bridging the gap between the two legends of Louisiana basketball is 1988 Louisiana Tech national champion and current Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
Ahead of the 2003 NCAA women’s basketball tournament (where, coincidentally, Ford put up 16 points and 15 rebounds in a Louisiana Tech loss to LSU in the Sweet Sixteen), Weatherspoon spoke on the potential of Ford.
“She’s big. She plays like her dad (Basketball Hall of Famer Karl Malone)… But she’s a wonderful person and that means more than anything,” she said of the incoming rookie.
As a head coach, it’s a very different perspective, but she had similar things to say about one of her top picks this year, Reese, and the attention she gets.
“What I like the most is she remains who she is. She doesn’t allow anything to change who she is,” she told reporters. “She’s a worker, she doesn’t settle, she wants more, but she’s up for the challenge.”
And that’s all to say two things:
- What a special entrance to the league for Reese. It’s fodder for a broader breakdown, but the 2024 Draft class is making their mark in their way, and Reese is no exception.
- Her legacy is built from here. All we have right now are these two games, so let’s enjoy and celebrate them, but look at the players I mentioned — no one’s bringing up those two-game totals in their Hall of Fame introductions. The start is great; the best is yet to come.
Home and Away
Speaking of those Chicago Sky, I was trying to get a read on the numbers of people Reese and company are drawing to Wintrust Arena, and it hit me that they have yet to play a home game.
In fact, they’ll be the last team to hold their home opener this year when they take on the Connecticut Sun Saturday night. That’s 11 days from the start of the 2024 WNBA season but still far from the latest in to a season a team has played their home opener.
In 2007 the Los Angeles Sparks opened their season on an Eastern Conference road trip before returning to California to face the Monarchs and then play their home opener on June 8, 20 days after the WNBA season opened.
The same was true in 2008 as the Sparks played opening night in Phoenix, where No. 1 overall pick Candace Parker started her career with a record 34 points (plus 12 rebounds and eight assists), and Sparks fans had to wait 20 days to see Parker make her Staples Center debut on June 6 (still an elite 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists).
On the other hand, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces have yet to play a regular season game away from home — that makes sense for a team who draws great crowds and are looking to defend a title, again — and they won’t do so until they play in Minnesota on May 29, 15 days after the season opened.
Only three teams in WNBA history have waited longer to play their road opener: the 2003 Detroit Shock, 2011 Seattle Storm, and 2013 San Antonio Silver Stars, who all waited 16 days from the start of the season to play an away game.
The Sparks will once again take on a long road trip this year, playing seven consecutive away games from June 11 to June 28, tied for the 5th-longest road trip in league history (by total games).
But watch out for the Seattle Storm from June 23 to July 14 — over that time period they’ll be the first WNBA team to play nine consecutive regular season games at home.
Selling Out
The WNBA is in a promising, but weird, spot with its game experiences. The Indiana Fever have sold out their first two home games (17,274 each), while the New York Liberty have also publicized their first two home games as sellouts (17,735 for the first, but 9,381 for the second).
It’s not uncommon for a team like the Liberty to leave their upper deck seating mostly (if not entirely) blocked off, which can account for the major differences in sellout numbers.
On the other hand, you have teams like the Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream who have chosen to play in much smaller arenas (4,200 for the Mystics and somewhere around 3,500 for the Dream) but are also consistently registering sellouts.
Consider that while the Atlanta Dream boasted 12 sellouts in 2023, their largest attendance recorded last year (3,209) was worse than nine other teams’ lowest (all but Mystics and Fever).
While it’s a leaguewide limbo between larger NBA arenas and smaller-but-consistently-full venues and several teams are moving games to take advantage of the moment, just keep in mind there’s more context behind every “sellout.” The data point is not the story.
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