James Wade will be in an unfamiliar position during the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game, as he will have to coach against two of his Chicago Sky players.

As head coach of Team Stewart, Wade’s roster was selected by captain Breanna Stewart in the All-Star draft Saturday. While Stewart picked up Chicago’s Kahleah Copper and Emma Meesseeman, opposing captain A’ja Wilson snatched up Candace Parker with the first overall selection and took Courtney Vandersloot later in the draft.

When Wade heard the news that he’d be going up against two Chicago Sky leaders, he summed up his feelings with one word: ““S***.”

“They don’t want us to be great. I thought A’ja was going to choose all Vegas players and we were going to have all of ours. I told Stewie, make sure we have all of our players. Stewie just doesn’t care,” he added with a laugh.

The All-Star Game tips off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 10, in Chicago

Team Stewart

  • Starters:
    • Breanna Stewart (captain), Seattle Storm
    • Sue Bird (captain), Seattle Storm
    • Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
    • Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun
    • Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks
  • Reserves:
    • Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
    • Kahleah Copper, Chicago Sky
    • Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury
    • Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
    • Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
    • Emma Meesseeman, Chicago Sky

Team Wilson

  • Starters
    • A’ja Wilson (captain), Las Vegas Aces
    • Sylvia Fowles (captain), Minnesota Lynx
    • Candace Parker, Chicago Sky
    • Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
    • Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
  • Reserves
    • Natasha Howard, New York Liberty
    • ​​Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas Aces
    • Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky
    • Ariel Atkins, Washington Mystics
    • Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun
    • Natasha Howard, New York Liberty

As we approach the midway point of the WNBA regular season, the Chicago Sky have risen to the top spot in our power rankings. Sitting one game back of the Las Vegas Aces in the standings, the Sky made up ground last week while the Aces lost two consecutive games for the first time this season, including to Chicago.

Also this week, all eyes were on the Valley as Tina Charles and the Phoenix Mercury mutually agreed to part ways in an unusual midseason contract divorce. The Mercury responded to the adversity of losing a key starter halfway through the season with an 83-72 win over the Dallas Wings the same day and an 83-71 win over the Indiana Fever on Monday night.

While the Washington Mystics remain inconsistent, their 87-86 road victory over the Aces was their best win of the season. At 12-9 and No. 5 in the standings, they’ve positioned themselves to remain in striking distance despite missing their top scorer for eight games so far. When Elena Delle Donne is on the floor, leading their offense at 15.6 points per game, the Mystics have as good a shot of contending for and in the playoffs as any team.

CP3 and the Chicago Sky roll

After a tough loss to the last-place Indiana Fever, the Sky bounced back last week, finding a rhythm and confidence with their production on the floor and setting some new records in the process. Chicago has now won three in a row, most notably a comeback 104-95 win over the top-seeded Aces and a 82-59 win over the Los Angeles Sparks.

In that game in Los Angeles last Thursday, Candace Parker finished with 10 points, 10 assists and 14 rebounds. The two-time WNBA champion became the first player in league history to record three triple-doubles, the first to record multiple triple-doubles in the same season and the second to record a triple-double in just three quarters.

Alongside Parker, Courtney Vandersloot has elevated her play and production in the last three games, averaging 19.3 points compared to just 11.2 points through the first 15 games of the season. Vandersloot continues to be one of the league’s best facilitators, but recently she has become more aggressive with her own shot selection and at hunting opportunities to take two additional shots per game. Her percentages have increased significantly as a result, with the guard shooting an impressive 65.7 percent from the field and 57 percent from 3-point range.

The increased production earned her Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday for the seventh time of her career. Take a look at Vandersloot’s numbers from the last three games compared to the first part of the season:

First 15 games vs. last three games

PPG: 11.2 — 19.3
APG: 7 — 5
RPG: 4.2 — 3.6
FG %: 43.3 — 65.7
3-point %: 34.2 — 57.1
Shot attempts: 9.5 — 11.6
3-point attempts: 2.3 — 4.6

On Sunday night, Vandersloot played the hero when she hit a buzzer-beating 3 to lift the Sky over the Minnesota Lynx 88-85. The sideline out-of-bounds play the Sky ran to win the game epitomizes the creativity and confidence Vandersloot is playing with right now.

img
img

In the play outlined above, we see Vandersloot and Emma Meesseman come together to set an elevator screen for Rebekah Gardner to run through (think of it like the two closing doors of an elevator). Allie Quigley inbounds the ball to Gardner, and at the same time, Messeeman screens for Vandersloot, who rolls off the action and quickly gets the ball back.

On the backside of this action, Quigley baits the defense and causes Kayla McBride to hesitate, while Parker sets an effective back screen to open up Quigley, who’s cutting to the corner. While the ball never finds that side of the floor, the backside action is important because it helps occupy the Lynx’s defense. The play did not directly result in the open shot Vandersloot took to win the game, but the complexities of the action combined with the Sky’s constant movement and screening positioning kept the Lynx scrambling and allowed Chicago to create an open look.

Nneka Ogwumike takes over in LA

While the Sparks haven’t exactly overwhelmed anyone with their 7-11 record and 10th place in the standings, Nneka Ogwumike has been a bright spot for a team that still has a lot to figure out.

Ogwumike is putting up some of the best numbers of her career, leading the Sparks in scoring at 18.2 points per game and rebounding at 7.4 per game. Her scoring average is the third-best mark of her 11-year career, and her 57.8 shooting percentage from the field is the second-best.

The Sparks have found ways to get Ogwumike 15-20 touches in the paint per game, and from there, the former MVP has done what she does best — run the floor, take advantage of positioning and get to her sweet spots in the paint to be a highly efficient and productive scorer. In the Sparks’ biggest win of the season over the Seattle Storm last week, Ogwumike also had arguably her best game, finishing with 24 points on 12-for-18 from the floor.

img
img

Aces lose two in a row

A two-game skid shouldn’t set off any alarm bells, especially when the losses come against two other potential contenders. Before last week, the Aces had an 8-1 record at home. Then, they dropped two in a row in Las Vegas — a 104-95 overtime loss to the Sky and a 87-86 loss to the Mystics.

In the Sky game, the Aces rode a 24-4 run to a 62-51 halftime lead, scoring 41 points in the first quarter alone. The Sky clawed back by erasing a 28-point deficit, setting a new record for the largest comeback in league history. The Aces’ shooters turned cold and the team scored just 11 points in the third quarter, while Chicago seized the opportunity to go on an 18-0 run.

The Mystics have been the most potent defensive team in the WNBA this season, allowing a league-low 76 points per game. While Las Vegas has led the league in scoring all season, offensive production was not necessarily the issue in the overtime loss. The Aces struggled to stop Washington’s duo of Delle Donne and Alysha Clark, who combined for 39 points. The Aces have relied on their offense all season, but when they go cold for long stretches, they have to find a way to get consistent defensive stops and tip the scales back in their favor.

Las Vegas got back into the win column with a 79-73 victory over the Sparks on Monday night. While they tapped into their depth with the return of Riquna Williams and more minutes for Iliana Rupert, consistent contributors A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum combined for 54 of their points.

They’ll have have an opportunity to prove themselves even further in a tough swing of road games, one against the Storm and a back-to-back series against the Lynx.

Week 8 Power Rankings

  1. Chicago Sky (13-5) +1
  2. Las Vegas Aces (14-4) -1
  3. Connecticut Sun (13-6) —
  4. Seattle Storm (11-7) —
  5. Washington Mystics (12-9) —
  6. New York Liberty (8-10) +3
  7. Atlanta Dream (8-10) -1
  8. Dallas Wings (9-10) —
  9. Los Angeles Sparks (7-11) +1
  10. Minnesota Lynx (5-14) +2
  11. Phoenix Mercury (8-12) -4
  12. Indiana Fever (5-15) -1

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot stepped up Sunday night, sinking a must-see buzzer beater to clinch an 88-85 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.

The veteran guard’s clutch three-pointer blunted a late 9-0 run from the Lynx, extending the Sky’s win streak to three games.

Six Chicago players finished in double figures, with Vandersloot leading all scorers, notching 18 points behind 53.8 percent shooting from the field. Emma Messeman added 15 points and four assists, while Candace Parker logged 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Vandersloot revealed that in the moment, she thought, “just get a shot up” after the final called-up play broke down.

“We have a trust in each other,” Vandersloot added. “My teammates trust in me to make a play, especially down in the clutch.”

Chicago’s win improves the team’s record to 13-5 on the season, now just a half a game back from top-ranked Las Vegas.

Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot drained a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left on the clock to help seal the Sky’s 82-78 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday night.

The veteran guard notched 16 points and 11 assists, leading the Sky past the Lynx down the stretch.

Four other Sky players finished in double figures, with Emma Meesseman recording a team-high 17 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

Nikolina Milic, whom the Lynx signed to a hardship contract on Friday, scored a game-high 18 points on 60 percent shooting from the field. Minnesota center Sylvia Fowles contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

The Sky defense was locked in, forcing 15 Minnesota turnovers and committing only five as a team.

The Sky improved to 2-1 with the win, while the Lynx fell to 0-4, matching their start from last season.

Chicago Sky star Courtney Vandersloot has signed with Hungarian women’s basketball club Sopron Basket for the 2022-2023 European season.

Vandersloot has competed with Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2018 but left Russia in early March amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

WNBA star Briann January’s exit from Sopron Basket’s roster opened up a spot for Vandersloot, according to the team.

“After it was decided in January that one of our team’s key players, Briann January will no longer play complete seasons in Europe, I thought of her replacement as a strategic task,” team president Zoltán Török said in a statement. “Briann January has written her name in the team’s history books as the engine of the team, because she did an incredible job during the three seasons she had spent here. We owe her a huge gratitude for these years. I believe that Courtney’s arrival can make sure the continuity of our building process. and that is why it was announced so early.”

The 2021 WNBA champion’s signing with Sopron Basket could signal an impending shift away from Russian teams among American players competing abroad.

Vandersloot is slated to join the Hungarian team after the conclusion of the WNBA season in mid-October.

Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot are each returning to the Chicago Sky on one-year deals, the team confirmed Thursday. The move reunites the married couple and longtime teammates after they helped lead the Sky to their first WNBA championship last season.

Quigley’s fully-protected deal is worth $135,000, while Vandersloot’s is also fully protected for $195,000, sources tell Just Women’s Sports.

With Quigley and Vandersloot locked in, the Sky enter the 2022 season with their entire starting five from the 2021 WNBA Finals under contract.

Quigley, the No. 22 pick of the Seattle Storm in the 2008 draft, bounced around the WNBA — Phoenix, Indiana, San Antonio and back to Seattle — and overseas leagues before settling in with the Sky in 2013. The Illinois native and DePaul grad revived her career with the Sky and has been integral to the team’s success during her nine seasons.

A three-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Sixth Woman of the Year and three-time champion of the 3-Point Contest, Quigley has averaged 12 points and 2.1 assists per game to go along with 40 percent shooting from the 3-point line during her time in Chicago.

Vandersloot has been with the Sky since they drafted her third overall out of Gonzaga in 2011. The point guard, who’s led the league in assists for five consecutive seasons, also holds the all-time WNBA records for the most assists in a season (300), the most assists in a game (18) and the highest assists average in a season (9.1 per game). A three-time All-Star, Vandersloot has averaged 10.1 points and 6.7 assists per game on 44 percent shooting from the field during her 11-year career.

Vandersloot’s decision to return to Chicago comes after a report earlier this month that UMMC Ekaterinburg was considering paying her to sit out the WNBA season. At the time, ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported that the Sky had made Vandersloot a “disrespectful” offer.

The Sky were aggressive early in free agency, placing the core designation on 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and later signing her to a multi-year deal. They also agreed to terms with Emma Meesseman, the 2019 Finals MVP with the Washington Mystics, adding skill at the forward position after losing Stefanie Dolson to the New York Liberty in free agency.

Meeseeman gives Chicago another scoring weapon in the frontcourt alongside Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens, while Quigley, Vandersloot and Copper fill out the backcourt. The Sky also addressed their bench depth, acquiring point guard Julie Allemand from Indiana in a three-team trade and signing 2021 No. 4 pick Kysre Gondrezick to a training camp contract.

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

Point guard Courtney Vandersloot has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Sky, according to Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.

The WNBA assists leader for the past four seasons, Vandersloot’s status with the Sky had been in question this offseason. In early February, it was reported that the unrestricted free agent was looking abroad after the Sky made a “disrespectful” offer. Additionally, UMMC Ekaterinburg was reportedly considering paying her to sit out the 2022 WNBA season.

Vandersloot’s return will be key in the Sky’s title defense. Last season, she averaged 10.5 points, 8.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the WNBA champions.

She was even better in the 2021 playoffs, averaging 13.0 points, 10.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds. In the Sky’s semifinal series against the Connecticut Sun, she posted just the second triple-double in WNBA playoff history, with 12 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds in the win.

Vandersloot has spent the entirety of her 11-year WNBA career with the Sky.

Her return is a sigh of relief for many as other key players from the championship team have departed in the offseason. Stefanie Dolson signed with the New York Liberty while Diamond DeShields was traded to Phoenix. The Sky acquired Julie Allemand in that deal, and they have also signed Emma Meeseman to a contract.

Chicago Sky star point guard Courtney Vandersloot is reportedly looking elsewhere after the Sky made her a “disrespectful offer,” according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

The news was later confirmed by Annie Costabile of the Sun-Times, who added that UMMC Ekaterinburg is pursuing the option of paying the star to sit out of the 2022 WNBA season.

Vandersloot is an unrestricted free agent this offseason after helping the Chicago Sky to the 2021 WNBA Championship – the franchise’s first.

She was a key factor in the Sky’s final run, posting just the second triple-double in WNBA Playoff history in the Sky’s semifinal series against the Connecticut Sun. With 18 assists, she also set a new single-game playoff assists record, passing Sue Bird.

During the regular season, Vandersloot averaged 10.5 points, 8.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

Vandersloot has been a member of the Sky since 2011 when she was drafted third overall by the team. A three-time All-Star, she has been the WNBA assists leader six times, including each of the past four seasons. She has also been the WNBA’s peak performer five times.

The Chicago Sky have been active this offseason, placing the core designation on and later signing 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper to a multi-year deal. They have also added 2019 Finals MVP Emma Meesseman to the lineup. But free agent Stef Dolson opted to sign with the New York Liberty on a multi-year contract.

Vandersloot’s wife and teammate, Allie Quigley, is also a free agent this offseason.

Courtney Vandersloot was a force to be reckoned with Tuesday night, posting a triple-double in the Chicago Sky’s 101-95 double-overtime win over the Connecticut Sun.

Vandersloot finished the game with 12 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Sky in Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinal series. She’s just the second player in WNBA history to record a triple-double in the playoffs, after Sheryl Swoopes had the first in 2005.

Swoopes congratulated the point guard on Twitter, calling her “one of the best PGs in the W…EVER!”

Vandersloot also passed Sue Bird for the single-game playoff assists record, matching her own single-game record set during the 2020 regular season.

While Vandersloot underplayed her performance on Tuesday as “just doing my job,” teammate Candace Parker — who led the Sky with 22 points — heaped praise on her point guard.

“I think Sloot’s humble,” Parker said postgame. “But it’s remarkable to do what she did. Defend, rebound, come down and facilitate under pressure. I think sometimes we get spoiled because we see it all the time, the plays she makes. It really has been fun for me just to watch the way she thinks the game and the way she’s always two plays ahead.”

Sky coach James Wade also chimed in, calling it “one of the best point guard games in playoff history.”

“I’m not surprised because this is what she does,” he added.

The Sky will meet the Sun in Game 2 on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The story going into the Chicago Sky’s first-round playoff game against the Dallas Wings on Thursday night was experience versus youth.

Sky players stepped onto the court at Wintrust Arena with over 100 playoff games between them. The Wings, the youngest team in the WNBA, had just four players who had ever been in the postseason.

The Sky, clearly, had been here before. But no one had experienced more games like these in a Sky uniform than Courtney Vandersloot, a staple of Chicago’s backcourt since the team drafted her with the third pick in 2011.

Vandersloot isn’t known for her scoring. The assists leader in the WNBA this year, she holds nearly every league record when it comes to passing. So it was somewhat surprising that of the 26 points the Sky scored in the fourth quarter, Vandersloot had 11 of them, helping seal the team’s 81-64 win over Dallas to advance to play the Minnesota Lynx in the second round Sunday.

“I was being aggressive towards the end of the game and my teammates were finding me,” Vandersloot said. “Things opened up for me late. They’re always harping on me to be aggressive and go for mine, so I showed them that I could do that.”

Vandersloot’s buckets in the fourth quarter were insurance for the Sky, but they were also crucial to putting the Wings away. Chicago led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter while holding Dallas to under 30 percent shooting from the field, but the Wings climbed out of that hole after halftime to get within five.

Arike Ogunbowale kept the Wings nipping at the Sky’s heels late, hitting a 3-pointer with 4:23 left in the fourth quarter to cut their lead to 68-63. The third-year guard led Dallas with 22 points on 5-for-10 shooting from deep in her playoff debut.

Vandersloot’s final stat line (17 points, eight rebounds, six assists) isn’t as flashy, but it was the awareness she showed to go at the rim when the Sky needed it most that impressed her head coach.

“I thought this was a good game for her because a lot of times your name is billed in the playoffs,” said James Wade. “Especially at the end where we were kind of struggling to score and she put the ball in her hands and did some crazy things … I thought it was good for her confidence to know that she’s that type of player.”

The Sky will need Vandersloot to contribute in multiple ways if they’re going to get through the Lynx and to the semifinals for the first time since 2016.

From a team perspective, Candace Parker liked what she saw Thursday night. After the Sky went 2-7 to start this season, losing seven straight games when Parker was sidelined with an injury, and turned things around to earn the sixth seed in the playoffs, the veteran appreciates the small wins, especially at this time of year.

“I loved how we handled adversity tonight. In the past, I don’t know if we would have continued to come together just through the ups and downs of the season,” Parker said. “So I think it’s giving me hope because that’s what the playoffs are, like it’s a game of runs. … Us learning that lesson of what we did right to get the run, but also what we did right to get out of it, I was really proud of that.”

Vandersloot’s uncharacteristic scoring touch helped the Sky hold the Wings’ run at bay. And the passing? That’s not going anywhere.

“She’s done things in this league that nobody has done,” Wade said. “Having these types of games in the playoffs only adds to the legend.”