Chicago Rides Into the Postseason: Repeat on the Horizon?
Under one week, that is all that is left in the 2022 WNBA regular season.
After an underdog run through the postseason last year, the Chicago Sky are demonstrating why their run was anything but a fluke. After Chicago's massive win at home against one of the title contenders, Connecticut Sun, the Sky surpassed its most wins in franchise history.
The previous mark was a 24-win season in 2013 when Chicago was knocked out in the Conference semifinals. It is just the fourth time in team history that the Sky has collected 20 or more wins, and with plenty of work still ahead of them, Chicago has its sights set on even bigger things. And despite a loss to the Seattle Storm on a night where Breanna Stewart and company continued to pour it on offensively, the Sky have still managed to beat three postseason contenders, including the high-powered Sun twice, with just two contests left in the regular season.
Chicago's next game is against Becky Hammon and the Aces, and with a win, the Sky will clinch the No. 1 seed in the postseason as Chicago hangs on to a slim lead with the season series tied at one game apiece. It would be the first time that Chicago has secured the top seed in the WNBA since the 2013 season, and if Wade and company find a way to run the table in the final two games, the Sky will finish with single-digit losses for the first time in franchise history.
C/O: Kamil Krzaczynski, AP Photos
With the addition of Emma Messessman and the accession of players like Azurá Stevens, the Chicago Sky and its star-powered core are on a mission to conquer the NBA for the second time in franchise history. With the third-best net rating in the WNBA this season, and the highest assist ratio, the Sky share the basketball like no other and holds a top-five defense that allows the fewest made threes per game than any other team in 2022.
In just his third season in charge of a WNBA franchise, James Wade has won Coach of the Year, collected a WNBA title, and is aiming to captain his team through the playoffs, not only as an underdog but as the favorite this time out.
Following a loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the Commissioner's Cup Final on its home court, Chicago may be as motivated as ever to take its out-of-conference foe out if it gets that chance again. Courtney Vandersloot signed a one-year deal with Chicago during the offseason, while both Allie Quigley and Messessman took pay cuts compared to their previous salaries in the WNBA to play on a team as loaded with talent as the Sky.
Wade used his connection with several of Sky's players like Vandersloot and Messessman from his time in Russia in 2017-18 as an assistant with UMMC Ekaterinburg. After Wade signed the defending WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper to a two-year deal worth $200,000 in 2022 and $205,000 in 2023, the rest of the squad knew they had to make sacrifices to do something that has only been done one other time since 2001.
The Los Angeles Sparks and Houston Comets are the only two teams in the history of the league to have repeated as WNBA champions. While the numbers and statistics of the league's history are not in their favor, the Sky have all the star power and motivation to win the title as the favorite, not as just a .500 team. With Chicago equipped with three former Finals MVPs this season, the journey to back-to-back titles looks even clearer with the experience on its side.
After the thrilling win over the Sun, star Candace Parker gave her take on the path ahead of her and her team, stating, "We're excited...Building momentum going into the playoffs, we want to be playing our best basketball, but we also realize from last year it's a new season once the playoff starts. So we gotta be focused."
Chicago's starting five has the ability to beat the opposition in so many different ways. When the Sky sent Diamond DeShields to the Phoenix Mercury during the offseason, they gained that star-power back in Messesman and the acquisition of former Fever guard Julie Allemand who provides another versatile threat off the bench that knows how to make plays. Whether it's the diving cuts of Vandersloot or Parker in the post, there are so many individuals that are multi-dimensional on this Chicago team. However, the Sky do need to work on not giving the opposition free possessions as they rank right in the middle of the pack in the WNBA when it comes to giveaways.
More than anything, it just feels like this Sky team has something to prove this season. Other than a few hiccups against worthy opposition, Chicago is truly an entire team who believes that it takes more than just one player to reach that ultimate goal of a title. The Sky has one player in the top-25 in points per game this season in the WNBA. Despite that, Chicago sits at the top of the WNBA as the regular season comes to a close.
C/O: Getty Images
When Parker came to the Sky from the Sparks, the franchise knew they had something special, and with that comes the pressure to capitalize on the opportunity at hand. Parker battled through injuries during her first season in Chicago, and when she got back, the Sky kicked it into another gear to get into the postseason. From the 30-point, 11-rebound performance against the Dream earlier this season to her triple-double against her former team, Parker may be aging, but her talent is undeniably still there.
The obstacles will be in their way, but knowing what it takes to eliminate the higher seeds in the playoffs will make the Sky even better equipped to know what they will be encountering. Seattle, Connecticut, Las Vegas, and Washington all have their cases as title contenders, but when it comes top-end talent, the Sky have a starting five that can overpower anyone with their offensive versatility. Defending a WNBA title is a monumental task, but given how Wade has built this team and how it has grown from finishing .500 last season to now, Chicago has all the tools to get the job done.
