Nothing seems to be going right for the Sky to start the 2023 season, and yet everything is working out just fine.
They responded to their first bout of injury news with two road wins to start the season. On Friday night, they suffered two more blows after Rebekah Gardner and Morgan Bertsch were hurt in the loss to the Washington Mystics. Two days later, they showed up at Wintrust Arena with only nine available players and had a season-high scoring output in their 94-88 victory against the Dallas Wings, improving their record to 3-1.
“[The adversity] is not as big as people want to see it as,” coach/general manager James Wade said. “When I say we’re really confident with all the players that we have on our roster, we are.”
Confidence aside, losing Gardner and Bertsch, who was tapped to make up for the absence of projected starter Isabelle Harrison, could have upended what Wade is developing with his new-look roster. Instead, the Sky proved that the next-player-up mentality they keep preaching is more than just a cliché.
All eight Sky players scored against Dallas. Wade’s three-player-deep bench — made up of Dana Evans, Sika Koné and Kristine Anigwe — outscored the Wings’ bench 27-10.
Koné’s 10 points, six rebounds and two assists Sunday were even more impressive considering it was her WNBA debut.
“She’s one of the most high-octane players that you can have,” Wade said. “Her not really having consistent practice with us — she was just cleared yesterday — she didn’t know anything. She was just playing, just hooping.”
Koné had a root canal just before Wade picked her up off waivers last week. She has had an opportunity to practice with the Sky in a limited capacity through the first week and was just cleared for contact. Wade said she was waiting on her “X-Men” mask to get fitted.
Wade was particularly impressed with his veterans’ ability to coach Koné through her 23 minutes on the court.
“They were able to get her into good spots,” Wade said. “She was able to raise our energy a little bit more in the second half.”
Koné and Alanna Smith were the forwards Wade leaned on in the second half.
After getting into foul trouble in her first three games, Smith was focused on finding a balance between being aggressive and strategic in her defense. Wade said it’s less about Smith changing her game and more about the officials getting used to it.
“The refs are going to get used to her because she doesn’t look like a great defender,” Wade said. “Neither her nor [Bertsch] look like great defenders, but they are. They keep their hands out of stuff, retreat on drives and are able to block shots. She gets in trouble because of the reputation she doesn’t have yet.”
Smith had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Courtney Williams also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Marina Mabrey led the Sky with 23 points, and Kahleah Copper had 16.
Elizabeth Williams played less than two minutes in the fourth quarter, but they were critical. As Arike Ogunbowale cut the Sky’s lead to three points with less than two minutes to play, Williams checked back in.
“I wanted to veteran it,” Wade said.
Teams playing with 10 or fewer players is nothing new in the WNBA. The Wings also had only nine players available.
While the Sky are certainly not better off without Gardner or Bertsch, they proved they have enough to win.
“[The adversity] is not that big of a deal,” Wade said. “It’s how you respond.”
