Angel Reese had a historic year in her rookie season in the WNBA. She became the first player in the league’s history to record 20 or more rebounds in three straight games and broke the record for most boards in a single campaign. While her prowess as a rebounder was unmatched, her shooting left a lot to be desired, prompting Sue Bird to implore her to work on it in the offseason.
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On A Touch More podcast, the four-time WNBA champion spoke at length about Reese’s shooting struggles. She noted that the ability to bank shots is a skill she can work on and improve. The retired star claimed that the center has a clear idea of where she’d be attempting most of her shots from and can practice getting her feel right from those spots. Bird said.
“What I find the most fascinating about [Angel Reese’s] game is her shooting percentage. This is why. She shoots something in the high 30s. 38, 39 percent. We talked about things in an athlete’s control, this is in her control. I think for Angel what’s interesting is she kinda knows what shots she’s going to get… These shots are coming. At the clip they’re coming, in the places they’re coming no matter what.”
Reese’s struggles shooting from the field are quite apparent. She attempted 419 over the course of the season, of which 321 were less than five feet from the basket. These are high-percentage shots, but Reese only banked 44.5% of her attempts.
Bird believes it’s the only critical flaw in her game and a slight improvement would turn her from an effective two-way star to a bonafide superstar. She said,
“All she really needs to do is bump up her shooting percentage by liked 3-4-5 points, which is totally doable. All of a sudden we’re looking at a kid that instead of averaging 13 [points], 13 [rebounds], it’s like 18 [points] 13 [rebounds].”
Bird’s expectation is pretty realistic. Expecting Reese to convert 50% of her shot attempts from within five feet of the basket isn’t too tall a ask. While her shooting struggles this year can be chalked off as a rookie adjusting to the league, she’ll have to get better at converting easy scoring opportunities in her sophomore season.
