The Chicago Sky are coming to the close of a tumultuous first half in a season that began with increased expectations.
Coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, the Sky made the biggest splash of the offseason, adding Candace Parker in free agency to position themselves as championship contenders.
But injuries — to Parker and a few other key players — led to a 2-7 start and a seven-game losing streak, their longest since 2012, which put their playoff chances in jeopardy. Once Parker returned to the lineup, however, the Sky rebounded with a franchise-record seven-game winning streak. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
“Well, we’re consistent, right?” coach and general manager James Wade said with a laugh this week.
The Sky are 10-9 with the fourth-best net rating (3.6) in the WNBA entering their final game of the first half Saturday night against the Washington Mystics before a monthlong break for the Olympics.
“I’m not a coach that likes to make excuses, but the injuries hurt us early,” Wade said. “Our team, we were 11th in the league at one point and they stayed together. They continued to compete in practice, they continued to play for each other and they turned it around.”
To help make sense of an up-and-down first half, let’s take a look at some key numbers from the Sky’s season.
90.6: Sky points per 100 possessions during their first 9 games
Maybe the most perplexing part of the Sky’s long skid was watching how stagnant their offense looked each night.
The Sky have long been one of the most prolific offensive teams in the league, but without Parker, who was recovering from a left ankle injury, and with Allie Quigley sidelined with a hamstring injury, their offense ranked last in the WNBA. Stefanie Dolson also was absent while helping the U.S. women’s national team qualify for the 3-on-3 tournament.
Oh, and Wade also was busy remaking the Sky roster at the start of the season, trading first-round draft pick Shyla Heal and trading a key reserve from last season’s team in Gabby Williams.
107: Sky points per 100 possessions in their previous 10 games
Lately, the Sky look a lot more like the team fans are used to seeing.
They’ve had the third-best offensive rating in the league in the last 10 games, with the second-most point per game (87.5) and shooting percentage (46.8%).
Quigley, who spent most of the season coming off the bench for the first time since 2016, has been a catalyst for that. The Sky own an offensive rating of 109.6 points per 100 possessions when Quigley is on the floor. That number drops to 97.6 when she’s on the bench.
2: The Sky’s defensive ranking
How did the Sky stay afloat despite such a long skid? Defense.
Defense was the Sky’s weakness the last few seasons, but they transformed into one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league in the first half, holding opponents to 95.5 points per 100 possessions.
Adding the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Parker has helped. With Parker on the floor, the Sky have a defensive rating of 92.1, which balloons to 102 when she’s off the court.
3: Sky All-Stars this season
The Sky and the Connecticut Sun are the only two teams to have three All-Stars this season. The All-Stars will square off against Team USA on Wednesday in Las Vegas before the national team heads to Tokyo.
Parker, who will announce the medal rounds for NBC, leads the way with her sixth All-Star appearance. Courtney Vandersloot will make her third All-Star appearance, and Kahleah Copper was named an All-Star for the first time, putting a stamp on her breakout performance from last season.
Copper has embraced a bigger role with the team, especially during their injury issues, and leads the Sky in scoring with 13.9 points per game with 4.9 rebounds.
5: Players averaging double-digit scoring
What gives the Sky the potential to be so dangerous when their team is clicking is just how deep their roster can be.
Parker (12.9 ppg) and Vandersloot (11.4) command the headlines and attention, which frees up room for their scorers on the wings — Copper (13.9), Quigley (11.8) and Diamond DeShields (12.3) — to give the Sky five players with double-digit-scoring averages. A sixth, Astou Ndour, is close to that mark, averaging 9.2 points.
Only the Las Vegas Aces, who have six players averaging double figures, have more.
8.7: Courtney Vandersloot’s assists per game
This one shouldn’t be a surprise, but Vandersloot once again is leading the WNBA in assists.
She has led the league in that category every season since 2016 and once again is well ahead of the pack. The next-closest player to Vandersloot is Chelsea Gray, who is averaging 6.4 assists for the Aces.
Vandersloot’s passing sets the tone for the Sky offense, and the unselfishness seems contagious for the rest of the team. The Sky are at the top of the WNBA in assist rate at 70.5%.
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