NFL
By: Stephen PridGeon-Garner
Coming in at 7-3, the Chicago SKY are out the gate to a solid start through the first month of the season.
They have only had their presumed starting lineup, for now, six games, and that correlates directly with the return of their Finals MVP from her victory lap overseas.
Since the return of Kahleah Copper (on May 22nd) they have seen their collective share of ebbs and flows as the rotation begins to take its form and their assemblage of skillful and ever-versatile talents mesh.
Through it all, they’re 5-1 with her back stateside and the foundational attention to detail is beginning to show as they form their identity as a collective.
The group coach Wade and company decided on has featured the staple former four pieces of Vandersloot, Quigley, Copper, and Parker.
I went back and forth with both who I felt he and his staff would elect to trek forward with at the 5, and who I felt would best suit that already dynamic foursome.
Stevens won a championship as the anchoring and ever-active piece, compiling numerous memorable moments in time on task, on both ends of the floor, as she ascended in her abilities under the season-long tutelage of Parker. It came every time the SKY needed it most.
On the other hand, Meesseman comes in as a former Finals MVP, years of experience both in the W and overseas, prior chemistry already with Copper (as a former teammate), as well as plenty more built up with Vandersloot and Quigley from their time spent overseas with Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg team – a team that coach Wade has also served as an assistant coach with.
I asked Coach Wade about Emma Meesseman's growing dynamic both as a two-way connector & how she's been finding the balance & flow in asserting herself within the offense for the Sky:
"It's no surprise to us. Someone with such a high IQ…"
@NutsAndBoltsSP pic.twitter.com/pJm6Wg2qkV
— Stephen PridGeon ☯️🏁 (@StayTrueSDot3) June 6, 2022
The latter all-encompassing skill and pre-existing relationships and chemistry all suggested she’d be the piece, and Emma’s early deposits in production tilted the scale slightly more in her favor.
The starting lineup of Slooty-Quigley-Copper-Parker-Meesseman has spent, now, six games together. In their compiled 174 possessions and 82 total minutes shared, they’re a +5.2.
Amongst lineups league-wide that have been featured in at least half of their teams games, and have spent at least 5 minutes on the floor, the SKY starters had ranked second going into play Tuesday. They’re presently fourth.
That group is one of the best across the league. It’s also one of the absolute most versatile, skilled, balanced, and high IQ collections of talent as well.
Opponents have a shooting slash of just 39.5/38.8/78.3 against that unit. They’re also forcing 4.3 turnovers as a group.
They have two anchors in Meesseman and Parker who can hold their own against switches out in space, and execute any scheme of coverage in pick-and-roll (drop/hedge or show/at the level/trap) with great activity and without fouling. They also function well scramming their smalls out of post mismatches, or on the weak side as tagger (oftentimes “kicking” the other out as play transitions out of their varying two-on-the-ball defenses), as well as sinking and filling.
🎙 Sound On 🎙
Meesseman/Gardner have already proven to be invaluable to the Chicago Sky in a multitude of ways, most resoundingly defensively, via:
🏀 excellent communication
🏀 viability knowing where to be
🏀 appropriate activityFilm of one defensive possession vs SEA ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/CP949mooT2
— Stephen PridGeon ☯️🏁 (@StayTrueSDot3) May 20, 2022
Those two are also adept at peel (or veer back) switches where they takeover for drivers as they get downhill, and are also excellent with their “doubles on the post” on opposing dribble drives.
Then, there’s a wing stopper in Kahleah Copper who can also double as an off-ball menace zoning up the weak side whenever they double with one of the frontcourt pieces in a primary action, as she’s able to use her athleticism in space to generate transition play.
Lastly, at the two guard spots, they have a heady tandem in Vandersloot and Quigley who are solid in containing the ball. These two are also crafty with their hands and rarely are caught out of position in any of coach Wade’s varying styles of coverage defensively.
The latter three of Vandersloot, Quigley, and Copper are all also adept at chasing, trailing, and defending any actions where matchups are involved in receiving either off-ball screens, picks, or dribble hand-offs.
They maintain contact in navigating, are disciplined with body positioning and are excellent at getting their hands involved (specifically with dribble hand-offs) to throw the timing off in that exchange at the very least.
The IQ and versatility of this group will continue paying dividends as teams use more tactics offensively to tug at what they presume to be pressure points within their defensive structure, in attempts to put them in precarious situations within their rotations.
Offensively, they have three of the top-15 passers in the league. Add to that that all three double as three-level scorers, and also can create both for themselves and others while on the move, and you see how dynamic of a trio Vandersloot, Parker, and Meesseman are.
Within that trio resides two pick-and-roll tandems that are scheme-proof, and they find actions that involve all three quite frequently whether it’s their double drags, side pick, and roll in transition, or signature horns actions.
They quite literally check off every box there is in this scenario, and render defenses helpless as they spam these quick hitters throughout games, dictating pace and flow, especially in the clutch.
Independent of those three in that scenario, Parker and Meessemans all-encompassing impacts enable the Sky to start sets with either of the two initiating offense at times, directing traffic and setting the table. Having such connectors with the ability to play so effectively off-script grows invaluable as games grow more meaningful.
Add to that the prowess of Allie Quigley as a spot-up, movement, and off-screen shooter, while also doubling as an underrated ball handler. Her perpetual motion and the subsequent gravity, especially when she’s clicking, functions as an offense in and of itself.
Then, there’s the ever-active punch that is Kahleah Copper. She generates paint touches-galore and rim pressure as an elite athlete with high-level finishing ability via a tight handle and quick first step. Adept at attacking closeouts, she’s also solid in her processing speed in assessing help and knowing when and where to kick it out as she gets downhill.
These five, in skill, even while we’ve seen Quigley struggle through the first month of the season, blend and mesh in unison like a perfect harmony.
There’s balance in their attack, all five can initiate a break or halfcourt offense, three of the five can post up and play out of their signature flex offense, and they’re all adept at cutting off one another.
In this lineup resides endless possibilities, and, in my honest opinion, the most flawless starting lineup in the W.
Some may have more punch offensive, see more defensive activity, or have more attention-garnering names, but the all-encompassing nature and balance struck, combined with an ever-steady diet of execution when they hit their flow and blend, make the SKY starters the most flawless unit.
The most perplexing thought about it is, that they aren’t even close to their ceiling in effectiveness. Four of their five starters are averaging north of 11 points per and that speaks volumes to their functionality.
As they inch closer to that and turn the corner collectively, keep an eye on how well this group meshes, hinting more and more at just how high of a ceiling the 2022 Chicago Sky has.
Up Next: Sky head to D.C. to take on the Mystics for a home-and-home match-up following their Sunday win in Chicago, 91-82.
