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Once again, the WNBA season is here. And once again, the Chicago Sky faces a big challenge. OK, bigger than usual as it awaits opening the season Monday (May 27) on the road against the Phoenix Mercury.
Sylvia Fowles (left) ad Elena Delle Donne are ready to open the WNBA season. Credit: Rick Welton/Homeland Sports LLC
As usual, the Sky enters the season never having reached the postseason since the franchise’s initial year, 2006. Add to that the fact that a survery of the league’s general managers has the Mercury an overwehlming favorite to win the WNBA championship — in no small part because of Brittney Griner, the 6-8 center from Baylor who is the overwhelming favorite to become rookie of the year.
The game is being hyped by ESPN, which will televise the game on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. Central time, as a battle between No. 1 draft pick Griner and No. 2 draft pick Elena Delle Donne, who has been compared to LeBron James for her all-around abilities at her size. The 6-5 guard/forward from the University of Delaware is aware of the comparisons and has scoffed at them.
Perhaps not the overpowering physical presence of a James, Delle Donne has shown offensive and defensive skills that should make the Sky a contender — for a playoff berth, if not for a title this season. She has shown composure on and off the court, as she has become a focal point with ESPN cameras chronicling her young pro career.
In playing against Griner, the Sky faces the tall task of dealing with the tallest talented player the league has seen. At 6-6. Sky center Sylvia Fowles will match up against Griner. Other WNBA teams no doubt will take note of how Sky coach Pokey Chatman tries to deal with Griner on both ends of the court.
The challenge is similar to that any team faces against a dominant player: Try to shut down the player or try to shut down the players around her/him. As dominant as Wilt Chamberlain was during his pro career (1959-74), he won only two NBA titles. Chamberlain’s contemporary Bill Russell won 11 with the Boston Celtics. George Mikan won seven pro titles as a revolutionary big man in the 1940s and ’50s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six.
Where Griner might fit in as an equivalent in the women’s game is uclear. Baylor (34-2) did not win the women’s NCAA title in 2013 after going 40-0 to win the 2012 crown.
What Griner does bring to the WNBA is someone with the ability to dunk on a regular basis. Will that singular skill translate into a championship and widespread interest in the WNBA? Well, right now that hardly seems a slam dunk.
Perhaps everyone — or anyone interested — will have a better idea after Monday’s debut.
Some post-practice video with Sky coach Pokey Chatman, center Sylvia Fowles and rookie guard/forward Elena Delle Donne:
For the non-WNBA enthusiast (as well as for the WNBA enthusiast), here we go with a daily dose of non-gratuitous video — thanks to the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com (and their broad definition of “gratuitous”):
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