Chicago Sky: Overcoming Facility Hurdles and Prepping for the Liberty
Brian Teague
Photo by CSOM Sports
CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky returned to the hardwood for a Monday practice session, navigating both the sting of Friday’s overtime loss to the Indiana Fever and the ongoing logistical hurdles of their season. The team wrapped up back-to-back practices at Loyola University after continued delays forced them to migrate from their initial temporary base at UIC. While the franchise’s new 80,000-square-foot training facility in Bedford Park was originally projected to be operational by May, the grand opening has been pushed back further into the summer, prolonging the team’s practice routine.
A return to familiar territory is on the horizon. The Sky will return to Wintrust Arena for practice today and host their shootaround there on Wednesday ahead of their highly anticipated home matchup against the New York Liberty.
Despite a nomadic practice schedule, team energy remains high, driven by a continued development on the court. WNBA legend Courtney Vandersloot practiced again, a strong signal that her return to the lineup is imminent.
For rookie guard Sydney Taylor, the team’s adaptability through the facility shifts speaks directly to their mental toughness.
“I think last few practices have been good. Coming out of a two-day break, sometimes you can come out slow, but I think our energy has been great,” Taylor told CSOM Sports. “We’re playing in different gyms, different places, so that can be hard to adjust to, but I think that the energy has been great the last couple of days.”
Taylor is fresh off a spectacular 30-point performance against the Fever, where she flashed the elite scoring upside that makes her a focal point of Chicago’s future. When asked about the mindset behind her offensive explosion, Taylor emphasized a conscious shift away from settling on the perimeter.
“Just being aggressive, taking what they’re giving me, not settling for jumpers, because I tend to do that a lot,” Taylor told CSOM Sports. “It’s just my play style. I love free ball, but not settling and getting downhill and finding my teammates.”
While the wins and losses have ebbed and flowed, head coach Tyler Marsh is seeing immense growth behind closed doors. The synergy between the coaching staff and the roster has never been stronger, particularly during film reviews where accountability is shared.
“Everyone’s fully engaged, fully involved,” Marsh told CSOM Sports regarding the buy-in during team film review sessions. “The floor is always open for our players to speak, as well as our staff, obviously. And so, we’re like-minded on a lot of things, in terms of what we’re seeing, and on the same page of how we can alleviate some of the things that have been, you know, harping us, and how we can continue to emphasize some of the things that we’ve been doing well.”
Marsh is confident that the Sky’s offensive output is on the verge of catching up to their underlying metrics.
“I think a lot of times this year, it’s come down to the process of generating shots. We’ve been able to do a good job of that. I think we’re making the right plays more often than that. It’s just we were waiting for that tide to switch in terms of making and missing shots,” Marsh noted.
“We’ve been able to see some go down the last couple games, but credit our team, we’ve stayed true to the process, and I think we’re in the upper echelon of the league in terms of open shots generated. So once our conversion rates kind of match that, we’ll be in a good spot. We’ve had our moments of really good offensive nights; it’s just a matter of continuing to find that consistency.”
When assessing the non-statistical signs that the offense is structurally moving in the right direction, Marsh pointed to the team’s spatial awareness and tactical utilization of their frontcourt anchors.
“We run a lot of split actions, we play through Mill [Cardoso] at times on the low post and in the high post areas, and so we’re trying to utilize her as a hub, both as a facilitator and as a scorer,” Marsh detailed. “And so our ability to move off of her and then our ability when the ball is reversed, to be able to find opportunities to cut and relocate and re-space. I talk all the time about creating and maintaining spacing and so a lot of that has to do with the on-ball action, but the ball has to move in sync with our bodies too, and so that’s something that we work on.”
A major talking point throughout the early season has been how the Sky handle opponent scoring blitzes. Marsh addressed his philosophy on stopping runs, admitting it is an ongoing balancing act between coach intervention and player empowerment.
“I think that there’s a balance there,” Marsh added. “Some of the games earlier in this season I’ve been a little bit quicker to use timeouts as opposed to late, so this is something that we continue to look at. But again, I trust the players out there. I think that I got to be better with managing those types of runs at times, but just overall, we feel good when we have Sky [Diggins], when we have Tash [Cloud] out there, and the ball in their hands, and so understanding time and score, and who needs a touch, and things like that. We’ll continue to harp on those situations, and from a coaching standpoint, and from a player standpoint.”
Wednesday night brings a massive challenge to Wintrust Arena in the New York Liberty. New York’s overwhelming size and defensive length present unique schematic hurdles, but Taylor believes the Sky backcourt can exploit certain matchups if they remain disciplined with their fundamentals.
“Very long team, active in the passing lane, so using ball fakes,” Taylor observed of New York. “They got some big people on that team, but I think we can take advantage of the perimeter defenders and get downhill, just making sure we’re pass faking, and getting those long defenders out the way.”
Defensively, the primary headache for Marsh’s staff will be slowing down New York’s sophisticated 5-out system, which operates entirely through former MVP Jonquel Jones.
“I mean, anytime you have a floor-spacing five, it creates problems for opposing defenses,” Marsh told CSOM Sports. “And so, and then you combine that with JJ’s [Jones] ability to do work down low and on the glass, and she’s a well-rounded post player, she’s a modern-day stretch five, and she has the ability to play make, and pass. I think it’s an underrated skill of hers too. She’s got the full gamut.”
To disrupt the Liberty’s offensive rhythm, the Sky will need a highly coordinated defensive effort on the perimeter and in the paint.
“You got to do a good job of making her touches difficult, allowing her to see bodies when it’s inside, and then when she’s outside, you got to have the urgency of being able to contain the ball, but still get out there and take away her catch-and-shoot threes.”
The Chicago Sky’s upcoming home game against the New York Liberty serves as a crucial barometer for the team’s progress, offering stability at Wintrust Arena after a week of logistical hurdles. If the team can align their high-quality shot generation with improved conversion rates, Wednesday night could serve as an opportunity for a mid-season turnaround.