<p>It looked like the play was dead. <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky" target="_blank" >Sky</a> center Kamilla Cardoso had surveyed the floor looking for an open teammate. But now she was without her dribble, smothered by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith, still well outside the paint.</p><p>Cardoso had a cheat code, though.

<p>To understand the <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky" target="_blank" ><u>Sky’s</u></a> offensive struggles, one must start by appreciating what it takes to be a top-tier offense in the WNBA.</p><p>You have to have an elite scorer — A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Plum — who can take it upon herself to drop 20 points per game.</p><p>Or you have to have multiple shooters consistently making better than 35% of their three-pointers at significant volume.</p><p>The top offenses in the league — the Wings, Lynx, Valkyries, Tempo and Aces — have at least one of the two.</p><p>The Sky have neither.</p><p>Nobody on the team is scoring more than 15 points per game, and the only player shooting 35% or better from three is rookie Gabriela Jaquez — and that’s on limited volume.</p><p>Now, what they do have is an elite point guard in Skylar Diggins, who hasn’t averaged less than 15 points in any of her last 10 seasons; two frontcourt players who can score in Azura Stevens and Kamilla Cardoso; and solid shooters in Jaquez, Stevens, Jacy Sheldon and Rachel Banham.</p><p>So while the limits of their roster might keep them out of the top tier, there’s no excuse for the offense ranking 13th out of 15 teams, which is where it sits today.</p><p>Coach Tyler Marsh has taken the blame publicly, saying he needs to be better. Still, it’s not clear what that actually means. Should he change the offense?