2020 Chicago Sky season

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2020 Chicago Sky season
Head Coach James Wade
Arena Originally: Wintrust Arena
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance None per game
Results
Record 12–10
(.545)
Place 1st (Eastern)
Playoff Finish 6th seed, Lost to Connecticut Sun in First Round
Team Leaders
Points Allie Quigley – 15.4 ppg
Rebounds Cheyenne Parker – 6.4 rpg
Assists Courtney Vandersloot – 10.0 apg
Chicago Sky seasons
< 2019 2021 >

The 2020 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 15th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). This was the second season under head coach James Wade. The Sky did not improve on their previous season's record of 20–14, but entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The season was initially scheduled to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games, tipping off at the Sky's home Wintrust Arena on May 15, 2020.[1] However, this plan was halted on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league has been holding a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, since July 24.[4][5] Under this plan, the Sky's first game was on July 26, versus the Las Vegas Aces.[6]

The Sky started out the season with success, posting a 10–4 record through 14 games. However, they lost 6 of their last 8 games to finish the season with a 12–10 record. They entered the playoffs as the 6th seed, losing to the 7th-seeded Connecticut Sun. In the offseason, the team added Azurá Stevens and Sydney Colson while losing Katie Lou Samuelson. During the season, they traded away Jantel Lavender and acquired Stephanie Mavunga. They also experienced a number of injuries throughout the season, ending the season without key players including Stevens and Diamond DeShields.

Starting guard Courtney Vandersloot set the all-time WNBA record for assists per game with 10, breaking her own record of 9.1 set in the 2019 season.[7][8]

Transactions

WNBA Draft

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See also: 2020 WNBA Draft

The Sky will make the following selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 8 Ruthy Hebard  United States Oregon
3 30 Japreece Dean  United States UCLA
3 32 Kiah Gillespie  United States Florida State

Trades and Roster Changes

Date Trade or Roster Change
February 12, 2020 Acquired a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for C Astou Ndour[9]
February 13, 2020 Signed G Sydney Colson[10]
February 14, 2020 Acquired F Azurá Stevens in exchange for F Katie Lou Samuelson and a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[11]
February 15, 2020 Re-Signed G Kahleah Copper[12]
February 17, 2020 Re-Signed F/C Stefanie Dolson[13]
February 19, 2020 Re-Signed G Allie Quigley[14]
February 25, 2020 Re-Signed G Courtney Vandersloot[15]
June 29, 2020 Signed G Stella Johnson[16]
August 28, 2020 Acquired F Stephanie Mavunga in exchange for C Jantel Lavender and second and third round picks in the 2021 WNBA draft[17]
August 31, 2020 Signed F Alisia Jenkins[18]

Roster

Chicago Sky roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 51 United States Colson, Sydney 5' 8" (1.73m) 140 lb (64kg) 1989-08-06 Texas A&M 6
G/F 2 United States Copper, Kahleah 6' 1" (1.85m) 155 lb (70kg) 1994-08-28 Rutgers 4
G 1 United States DeShields, Diamond 6' 1" (1.85m) 163 lb (74kg) 1995-03-05 Tennessee 2
C 31 United States Dolson, Stefanie 6' 5" (1.96m) 231 lb (105kg) 1992-01-08 Connecticut 6
F 24 United States Hebard, Ruthy 6' 4" (1.93m) – 1998-04-28 Oregon R
F 23 United States Mavunga, Stephanie 6' 3" (1.91m) 205 lb (93kg) 1995-02-24 Ohio State 2
F 32 United States Parker, Cheyenne 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 1992-08-22 Middle Tennessee 5
F 15 United States Prince, Alexis 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 1994-02-05 Baylor 2
G 14 Hungary Quigley, Allie 5' 10" (1.78m) 140 lb (64kg) 1986-06-20 DePaul 11
F/C 30 United States Stevens, Azurá 6' 6" (1.98m) 180 lb (82kg) 1996-02-01 Connecticut 2
G 22 Hungary Vandersloot, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 145 lb (66kg) 1989-02-08 Gonzaga 9
F 15 United States Williams, Gabby 5' 11" (1.8m) 172 lb (78kg) 1996-09-09 Connecticut 2



East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LA • MIN • PHO • SA • SEA
Head coach
United States James Wade (Kennesaw State)
Assistant coaches
Germany Olaf Lange
Turkey Emre Vatansever
Athletic trainer
United States Meghan Lockerby
Strength and conditioning coach
United States Ann Crosby (Western Michigan)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

WNBA roster page

Season overview

The Sky entered the 2020 season looking to build on dramatic improvements in the previous season, when they reached the playoffs for the first time in three years and were recognized with three All-Star selections and a Coach of the Year Award.

During the free agency period, the Sky made few changes to their roster from the previous year. The team traded away Astou Ndour and 2019 first-round pick Katie Lou Samuelson, acquired third-year player Azurá Stevens via trade, and signed veteran Sydney Colson.[9][10][11] Free agents Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, and Stefanie Dolson were all re-signed to multi-year deals.[13][14][15] Amid many All-Star players in the league changing teams, the Sky's decision to largely bring back the previous year's team received a grade of B– from SB Nation.[19] On the other hand, women's basketball website Swish Appeal evaluated the Sky's decisions more positively and argued that the team positioned itself to contend for a championship.[20] The WNBA-focused publication Winsidr gave the Sky a B+, rating the retentions of key players and addition of Sydney Colson highly, but criticizing the value of the trade for Stevens.[21]

In the 2020 draft, the Sky selected Ruthy Hebard in the first round and Japreece Dean and Kiah Gillespie in the third round. The Sky received a grade of B in three post-draft evaluations from ESPN, CBS Sports, and SB Nation.[22][23][24]

In March, the WNBA season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jantel Lavender will miss this season due to recovery from surgery on a broken foot,[25] and Sydney Colson missed the beginning of the season due to recovery from COVID-19.[26] Stefanie Dolson was also afflicted with COVID-19, but recovered before the start of the delayed season.[27] On June 29, the Sky signed guard Stella Johnson.[28]

The Sky returned to play for the shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy on July 26. Their first game was a rematch against the Las Vegas Aces, the team who had beaten them in the previous year's playoffs. Despite the Aces leading for most of the game, the Sky won 88-86.[29][30] The Sky ended July with a 2–1 record. On August 1, they notched a narrow win against the Mystics, the last undefeated team in the league, and improved to 3–1. Over the next six games, the Sky alternated wins and losses and held a record of 6–4 after 10 games. During this stretch, on August 10, Courtney Vandersloot was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.[31] The Sky then won four consecutive games, including blowout wins against the Atlanta Dream and the New York Liberty, to improve to 10–4. Vandersloot was again named Eastern Conference Player of the Week following this run of games.[32] However, they proceeded to lose the next two games against the lowest-seeded Liberty and the top-seeded Seattle Storm.

On August 28, the Sky traded two draft picks and Jantel Lavender, who had been out for the season due to injury, in exchange for Stephanie Mavunga.[33] On August 29, two key players for the Sky, Diamond DeShields and Azurá Stevens, exited the IMG Academy bubble. Stevens left due to an injury that would require her to miss the remainder of the season and DeShields left for personal reasons. Both players had missed the previous two games due to injuries.[34] On August 31, the Sky signed forward Alisia Jenkins to a seven-day contract.[35]

On August 31, the Sky rebounded from their two-game losing streak with a win against the Indiana Fever. Courtney Vandersloot recorded 18 assists in the game, breaking the all-time WNBA record for assists in a single game (16) previously held by Ticha Penicheiro. Vandersloot's record-breaking 17th and 18th assists came in passes to her wife, Allie Quigley.[36][37]

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log
2020 season schedule

Playoffs

2020 playoff game log
2020 playoff schedule

Standings

# Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1 x – Las Vegas Aces 18 4 .818 – 8–2
2 x – Seattle Storm 18 4 .818 – 8–2
3 x – Los Angeles Sparks 15 7 .682 3 5–5
4 x – Minnesota Lynx 14 8 .636 4 4–6
5 x – Phoenix Mercury 13 9 .591 5 4–6
6 x – Chicago Sky 12 10 .545 6 6–4
7 x – Connecticut Sun 10 12 .455 8 7–3
8 x – Washington Mystics 9 13 .409 9 6–4
9 e – Dallas Wings 8 14 .364 10 1–9
10 e – Atlanta Dream 7 15 .318 11 5–5
11 e – Indiana Fever 6 16 .273 12 4–6
12 e – New York Liberty 2 20 .091 16 2–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
Source


Playoffs

 
 First round:
Single elimination
(September 15)		 Second round:
Single elimination
(September 17)		 Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(September 20–29)		 WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(October 2–11)
 
                            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
1
Las Vegas Aces		 3
 
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 2
 
 
  
 
 
4
Minnesota Lynx		 80
 
  
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		 79
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		 85
 
  
 
8
Washington Mystics		 84
 
1
Las Vegas Aces		 0
 
  
 
2
Seattle Storm		 3
 
6
Chicago Sky		 81
 
  
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 94
 
3
Los Angeles Sparks		 59
 
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 73
 
 
  
 
 
2
Seattle Storm		 3
 
 
4
Minnesota Lynx		 0
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Semifinals
Team 1 2 3 4 5
1
Las Vegas Aces		 62 83 68 84 66
7
Connecticut Sun		 87 75 77 75 63
Team 1 2 3
2
Seattle Storm		 88 89 92
4
Minnesota Lynx		 86 79 71
WNBA Finals
Team 1 2 3
1
Las Vegas Aces		 80 91 59
2
Seattle Storm		 93 104 92
This box:


Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Allie Quigley 22 22 28.7 44.8 34.6 91.9 2.9 2.4 0.6 0.3 15.4
Kahleah Copper 22 22 31.3 49.6 34.4 73.2 5.5 2.1 1.0 0.2 14.8
Courtney Vandersloot 22 22 31.5 49.1 39.5 88.9 3.5 10.0 1.2 0.4 13.6
Cheyenne Parker 20 13 24.9 55.4 46.9 85.5 6.4 1.5 1.3 0.9 13.4
Azurá Stevens 13 13 27.3 50.0 38.5 85.0 5.9 1.5 0.9 1.8 11.5
Gabby Williams 22 4 24.8 42.4 28.6 64.0 4.0 2.0 1.3 0.2 11.5
Diamond DeShields 13 0 17.2 43.4 16.7 77.8 1.8 1.5 0.9 0.1 6.8
Stefanie Dolson 15 8 18.2 49.3 37.5 73.7 3.5 1.7 0.4 0.9 6.4
Ruthy Hebard 22 6 14.5 68.2 0 75.0 3.9 0.3 0.5 0.4 5.7
Alexis Prince 2 0 8 60 66.7 0 1.5 0 0 0.5 4.0
Stephanie Mavunga 5 0 7.2 45.5 0 0 2.6 0.4 0.2 0 2.0
Sydney Colson 17 0 6.5 42.9 33.3 87.5 0.4 0.8 0.4 0 1.6

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
Courtney Vandersloot Eastern Conference Player of the Week August 10, 2020 [31]
August 24, 2020 [32]
Eastern Conference Player of the Month – August September 1, 2020 [38]
Peak Performer: Assists September 14, 2020 [39]
All-WNBA First Team October 4, 2020 [40]

References

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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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