The Sportswise Team Reaches For The Sky

Patrick: Welcome to this week’s SportsWise. Fellas, let’s talk about our outing to Wintrust Arena to check out the women of the #1 team in the WNBA: the Chicago Sky.

Russ: Me first. Hello, fans. So, this was my very first WNBA game. Man, what an experience! Even though the Sky didn’t pull out a victory, let me say them women can play… and they look good doing it.

Donald: Well, the good thing is that, this week, they lost one game and won two, so, basically, they’re still on their same schedule of two-to-one victories to losses.

Russ: I won’t lie, even down in the middle of the 4th quarter, I still thought they would pull it off.

Patrick: Russ, man, I like you, brotha. I know I was glad to have you there sitting to my left, both of us still filled with belief that the Sky had a shot at making that magic happen out there. I mean, can you imagine how exciting it would have been had our Sky won?

Russ: Especially with Candace Parker out dang near the entire second half, it felt like.

Donald: Right. Now, she did play more than I realized in that second half, but I didn’t truly realize it until checking the stats. I talked with somebody else about it, and he said that Candace hadn’t played a ton in the few games prior. Maybe it was fatigue, or general rest to keep her somewhat fresh for the playoffs. With them playing 5 games in the last 11 days prior to this one, it would make sense.

John: And their record, which was 3-2 in those games, proved to carry over to this one against the Wings on the 2nd. Even though I didn’t make the outing, I did check it out in the news and there were a couple of things to take away from it: both positive and negative.

Patrick: Can we hear the negative first?

Donald: Yes, please, Mr. Hagan.

John: Well, I thought there were several breakdowns defensively in the loss to the Dallas Wings. They only lost 84- 78, but it has me wondering if they have enough in them to overcome their defensive issues to win this season, making it back-to-back championships. They could find themselves an early exit if they don’t figure it out.

Patrick: Positive observations?

John: Well, the combination of the women on the team is awesome to see. To me, the combination of Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot has helped make the Sky a more dynamic team. Much more so than when they won the championship last season.

Patrick: I’ll say this for that game. Kahleah Copper came to play. It seemed as if it took her a moment to come alive and catch fire, but when she did it was a beautiful thing to see and experience—as it is every time I watch the Sky. I also love their guard play: Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Rebekah Gardner. Gardner gets overshadowed a bit—at least to me—with all of these other stars on the Sky, but she’s pretty good. A definite asset for the playoffs.

Russ: All of them are going to have to come to play, too, for us to have a really good shot at repeating. The team did look tired, so a few days off should do them good.

Donald: Agreed, my man. Now, I did see a couple of their championship games last year, and they still have what it takes. I’m confident in us.

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