Chicago Sky Set for Preseason, Envisions Postseason

May 10, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

Ready for some basketball playoff talk? Without any mention of Derrick Rose (well, there’s the first mention — d’oh!). Or without LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Or Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls. Or Game 2 Friday (May 10) between the teams in their Eastern Conference semifinals. Or even the NBA.

Swin Cash, Elena Delle Donne and Sylvia Fowles.

All because Thursday was media day for the Chicago Sky of the WNBA.

Of course, any conversation involving the Sky and the postseason begins with the reality that the franchise never has achieved that level since its inception in the 2006 season. Not only that, but the Sky is the lone team never to be in the playoffs.

The 2012 team had a 7-1 start before an injury to star guard Epiphanny Prince ultimately led to the Sky finihing with a 14-20 record for the third year in a row. The last two seasons have been under coach Pokey Chatman, who doubles as general manager.

Sylvia Fowles, Epiphanny Pirnce and Swin Cash at Sky media day.

From the department of basketball speculation at elliottharris.com, we offer this as the Sky’s 2013 starting lineup: Prince and Courtney Vandersloot at guard, Sylvia Fowles at center and Swin Cash at forward — as they all were in 2012. The fifth spot will go to — drum roll, please — rookie Elena Delle Donne, the No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA draft.

That lineup would mean Ruth Riley and Tamera Young — each started some games last season — would be coming off the bench. Of course, Chatman did not consult your humble correspondent for any personnel advice. And maybe she will prefer to bring Delle Donne along slowly and have the guard-forward from Delaware start as a reserve rather than be a starter.

The public will be able to have its first look at the 2013 Sky on May 15 in a preseason game against the New York Liberty at Chicago State University. The contest is being promoted as “Game Place for Peace” with all tickets $10 for the 11:30 a.m. tipoff.

“Game Plan for Peace” is an anti-violence initiative that the team will continue throughout the season. The Sky will team with the Cook County Sheriff’s Department on a cyber-bullying workshop June 9. You can find out more about all this at the team’s web site by clicking here.

This photo pretty much captures the excitement of media day — from a player’s perspective.

Here’s some video from media day (with more to follow at some point before the Sky’s preseason game, if things go as planned — which they occasionally do around here):