Angel Reese might be one of the biggest stars in the WNBA, but she is certainly not playing like one, as she had one of her worst games yet on Sunday afternoon, adding to what’s been a lackluster start to the season.
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During the offseason, the Atlanta Dream landed Reese by way of a trade with the Chicago Sky, sending two first-round picks to Chicago in return for the league’s top rebounder. While the team obviously had high hopes for the star forward, it’s been a rocky start to her time with the Dream.
Reese’s struggles began during the preseason when she could not seem to score with efficiency and seemed to have some concerning issues with her shooting form. Reese bounced back a bit in the first two games of the season, where she posted back-to-back double-doubles to start the season, alleviating some concerns. However, Sunday’s game was her worst performance yet this season, and she was ultimately benched as the team mounted a comeback without her.
Worst Game of Her Career?
Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces did not go well for Reese. After expressing confidence heading into the game and calling herself a “great player,” Reese had arguably the worst game of her entire career.
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In 29 minutes of action, Reese managed just nine points and eight rebounds, making just 1-of-8 shots from the field while turning the ball over an eye-popping eight times as a forward who does not spend much time handling the ball. While Reese did score nine points in the game, seven of them came from the free-throw line.
There’s only one game in Reese’s career that might have been worse than this performance. During a game against the New York Liberty last May, Reese went 0-for-8 from the field with just two made free throws. However, even in that game, she still managed 12 rebounds and only turned the ball over four times.
After the eight-turnover performance, Reese now leads the league in turnovers.
Angel Reese Benched During Game
With Reese struggling to make shots and continually turning the ball over, the Dream eventually opted to bench her down the stretch, and the move nearly led to a comeback.
With Reese on the bench, Atlanta overcame a 19-point deficit to tie the game with under a minute left on the clock before Chelsea Gray hit a two-point pull-up shot with just 3 seconds remaining to win the game for the Aces.
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Reese played just 29 minutes in the game, the lowest total of the season so far.
Fans Offer Criticism
Reese’s struggles quickly led to some strong criticism from fans, who offered their reactions on social media.
“Every time I think Angel Reese is gonna turn the corner & figure out that she can only succeed if she accepts her limitations and embraces a Rudy Gobert role she does this. She provides unlimited ammo to her haters,” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“She fr might get cut at some point if she doesn’t start taking improving seriously,” someone else said.
“You don’t know ball if you keep saying Reese needs to work on layups. There’s no such thing as a grown adult working on layups. It’s a life time of instincts, balance and touch. She’s a glorified bench player. A bull in a china shop,” another fan commented.
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“She’s not a good player man,” a fan added bluntly.
“I said it when her senior season ended at LSU; her rebounding and her motor would translate but her offensive game would need major work. 3 yrs in, I think no matter the work it just will never be there. She will just have to be a energy and toughness type of player,” someone else wrote.
“Im personally not trying to dump more on Angel but as a fan today’s game was frustrating. I know she is beating herself up more than we could but I do hope that she figures it out soon. We are pulling for her,” a fan added.
“She makes basketball look so difficult,” someone else said.
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Clearly, this was not the performance Reese hoped to have against the reigning league MVP in A’ja Wilson.
The post ‘She’s not a good player’: Angel Reese quietly benched as criticism mounts appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
