The Chicago Sky Dictating with Defense

By: Stephen PridGeon-Garner

Wednesday’s collective efforts on the defensive end left a lot to be desired from the Chicago Sky.

It was by no means a bad showing, but they came undone at inopportune times where they could’ve potentially closed the door on the Liberty in the second half.

The lack of energy in spurts is what did them in, and coach James Wade was quick to attribute the result of game one to just that.

“I didn’t think we were active enough. I thought we played timid in certain situations, and they were a little too comfortable.”

A key sentence from my moment with him postgame was when he mentioned, “You can’t allow them to see those direct line passes. Our aggressiveness has to be up and in their faces.”

Game one certainly didn’t see any of his sentiments with enough consistency, and that’s not what this seasons Sky team is in terms of their identity.

They’re arguably the most aggressive defense in terms of scheme and coverage, and also add to that a collection of talents that don’t shy away from physicality, and even both invite and dictate with it at the forefront.

Game one served as an anomaly of sorts with the absence of the requisite physicality and activity to, enabling the subsequent lack of execution we saw.

Fast forward to game two where, yes adjustments were made, but the attention to detail and combined efforts in dictating with activity were ever-present, and we saw the Sky put together one of their most complete games of the season, and certainly their best in the last three weeks.

From subtle tweaks in having Kahleah Copper tasked with disrupting Sabrina Ionescu from the forefront (she guarded Betnijah Laney to start game one), to pre-rotating on the backline and taking away the roller as New York began to initiate pick-and-roll play, to even anticipating then taking away the pass to their release valves in read and react defense, the Sky remained sharp for the duration of game three.

A key to the series for the Sky for me, as I mentioned in my series preview, was for the Sky to stay out of extra rotation after their initial rotations behind their activity at the level of screens.

In game one, because they didn’t A.) have the requisite activity to execute their schemes for the entire game, and B.) lacked the connectivity to do so in a timely manner, it all looked a way that it hasn’t really been seen as for the entire season.

Fast forward to game two and the performance was night and day. The kick-out switches were prompt, there were no hang ups at the mesh point when the made traditional on or off-ball switches, the amount of open shots the Liberty took was bare minimum, they made the Liberty resemble the turnover prone team they’ve been all season, and it enabled the Sky to consistently play with flow onto the offensive end.

There are a few plays defensively  that stood out to me in contrast to game one, and that’s what we’re here to highlight.

In game one, one of the most effective ways the Liberty were able to undo the Skys pressure defense was with strategic spacing, always having their frontcourt piece not involved in the direct pick-and-roll action make themselves available at the opposite slot or at the dome, as the release valve, to then play the connector in advantage ball.

Almost always a making the correct quick decision in either shooting or making the connecting pass out of the two-on-the-ball scenario to stress the rotations of the Sky was, former Sky player Stephanie Dolson.

Notice where she (Dolson) is here, and how Parker has to gap off of her in preparation of Natasha Howards roll out of the trap. First priority is no middle for that pass out. Second priority is usually take away the “next” or “one pass away,” to both entice and invite the difficult diagonal pass over ball pressure.

Conceding the easy pass to Dolson or **insert any Liberty frontcourt piece** in game one rendered the aggressive defense to lacking their typically dictating manner.

Fast forward to game two now, in a very similar scenario and look at the difference as Courtney Vandersloot anticipates then reads and reacts to the pass they’re taking away, for a pick-six.

Again, the Liberty tipped their hand in spamming the quick release valve in game one, the Sky, via better on-ball pressure as well as the requisite off-ball awareness, took that anticipated option away time and time again.

Another example of that came later in the first quarter. This time, Ionescu wittily stepped through the trap to make the cross court pass. However, the Skys defense is so on schedule and active that the flow into the next phase of their scrambling defense with great conviction:

Vandersloot anticipates the ensuing pass after the pass out of the trap for a good contest to make Allen second guess the shot. Stevens is there to recover for Vandersloo selling out to close out long. Then Gardner (as always) is ACTIVE in the passing lanes. Then finishes this possession off with great ball containment into a contest.

Here’s another, this one see’s Azurá Stevens activity at the level combined with pressure on the ball and active hands force a turnover, as she compiles an impressive sequence:

Now here’s a rare example from game two, that was an issue in game one:

Here the Liberty’s spacing is a little odd on the second side, nonetheless Allemand has to not be hugged on her check (even if that is Sabrina Ionescu) and trust the system.

This was a very rare instance though understandable with Ionescu playing second-side (which is why she’s positioned there and also why the Laney-Johannès-Dangerfield-Whitcomb talents enabling Sabrina to play off-ball is so effective).

However, if she shoots the gap to the release valve there or even just deters the next pass out of it, there’s Meesseman and Gardner to cover up for the next action.

Great subtle adjustments in anticipation and scheme as well from the Sky, also often changing their scheme to keep the Liberty guessing. The scheme was never an issue as they also did so in game one, it was the attention to detail and execution that was different, to which Coach Wade agreed after game two:

Asked Coach Wade about his assessment of the Skys activity & energy at the level of the screen today (especially in comparison to G1):

"It was a lot of trust out there on the floor, & they executed at a high level."

@NutsAndBoltsSP pic.twitter.com/jkAMFeEKiE

— Stephen PridGeon (@StayTrueSDot3) August 20, 2022

The recipe is there for the Sky to cook again in game three. They consistently put themselves in a position to dictate in game two, evident by 14 of the Liberty’s 19 turnovers coming via the live ball variety (a stark contrast to the right turnovers and only four of the live ball variety from game one).

Also of note, the Liberty were 16-28 at the rim in game one. Game two saw them go 9-16.

So increased volume of general turnovers as well as live ball turnovers, coupled with a volume in attempts that equalled the amount of makes the Liberty had in game one speaks to just how much dictating occurred for the Sky in game two.

If they can sustain discipline and activity in execution again, as well as the real-time communication we saw above (!) in their off-ball activity, it’ll make for an impressive series win in round one and result in some of their best sustained level of play from the last few weeks. All with perfect timing.