For Sky, playoff run starts before first game is played

Think about your first day on the job.

If you were like most people, you probably took things slow. You know, eased in a bit.

Not so for the Chicago Sky.

New head coach and general manager Pokey Chatman hit the ground running on Sunday and so did her players, to the tune of a three-hour practice.

It was the team's very first practice of training camp.

How's that for a welcome?

“I can't feel my legs right now,” newly acquired forward Michelle Snow joked Tuesday at the team's media day inside its new practice facility in Deerfield.

“That was a really, really long first practice,” Sky veteran guard Dominique Canty added. “The good thing was that it didn't feel like three hours because (Chatman) does everything quick and is really to the point. But we definitely worked hard.”

Chatman figures that she and her players have a lot of work to do if they're going to be able to give fans what they've been waiting five long years for.

Since she was hired last fall, Chatman has heard all about the playoffs.

As in, how the Sky hasn't been to them. Ever.

That's five years, zero playoff appearances.

Chatman is as serious as a three-hour practice about changing that. Immediately.

“I told the team at our dinner on Saturday night that we want to make the commitment now, to take the steps now that we need to take so that we're not hoping and praying in August that someone loses a game here or there or something else happens so that we can somehow make the playoffs,” Chatman said. “We're going to win games in training camp. We need to put in work now that can benefit us late in the season.”

The Sky's talent should come in handy down the road, too.

A few important off-season moves have given the Sky all the tools necessary to be a playoff contender.

Snow is a 6-foot-5 veteran, brought in from San Antonio in a trade for Jia Perkins, who will complement all-star center Sylvia Fowles nicely inside. And top draft choice Courtney Vandersloot, picked No. 3 by the Sky in April, is savvy enough to earn a starting spot at point guard right out of the box.

“We definitely have the talent to get to the playoffs,” said Sky forward Shameka Christon, a likely starter on the wing who is healthy after missing most of last season with a serious eye injury. “And the energy level is so high, which is so different from last year. Pokey has brought so much intensity already.

“Everybody is really getting after it and it starts in practice.”

The Sky's first preseason game is May 23 against the Chinese National team. The season opens at Indiana against the Fever on June 4 and the first home game is on June 10 at Allstate Arena against the Connecticut Sun.