Defense the issue in Chicago Sky loss to New York
Missing from Tuesday night's game between the Chicago Sky and the New York Liberty was the epic post battle that used to happen like clockwork between Sky center Sylvia Fowles and Liberty center Tina Charles, both all-stars.
Also missing was the defense in the paint that Fowles, a WNBA defensive player of the year award winner, was famous for providing.
Fowles is still sitting out the current season, after having demanded to be traded during the off-season. She has missed all 10 games thus far, but her absence could be felt more so than usual against the Liberty, to the tune of 26 points and 11 rebounds for Charles.
With the Sky defense trying to overcompensate in the paint, the perimeter was open for New York, which drained nine 3-pointers en route to an 89-81 victory over the Sky.
The loss drops the Sky to 5-5 on the season. New York, which features three former Sky players in Swin Cash, Carolyn Swords and Epiphanny Prince, improves to 6-4.
"This is a different team without Syl, for sure," Cash said of the Sky. Cash spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons playing in Chicago. "They've got some young players playing in the post."
The Sky, down by as many as 15 points early in the fourth quarter, lost the points in the paint battle, 34-28. The rebounding battle was also lost, 40-33. That has been a common occurrence this season and has given way to even bigger defensive issues. The Sky is one of the worst teams in the league in defensive points allowed, ranked second-to-last at 81.3 points per game.
"We need some defensive consistency," Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. "You could pick any number of things (that need work)."
Defense on the perimeter also was an issue. The Liberty had several wide open 3-pointers go down thanks in part to slow rotations by the Sky. New York reserve guard Candice Wiggins (15 points) drained 5-of-5 3-pointers despite normally being a 13 percent shooter from downtown.
"Overall, it (the team's defensive challenges) is probably just communication and really just trying to trust each other," said Sky forward Elena Delle Donne, who won her third consecutive Eastern Conference player of the week honor earlier in the day before putting together her fifth double-double of the season with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
"The schemes work that the coaches draw up. We can get stops. We just have to be there and do things hard and aggressive and not be questioning ourselves."
Sky guard Cappie Pondexter, who was traded to the Sky from New York in the off-season, showed well against her old team, finishing with 19 points and two 3-pointers. Guard Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley also had double-figures for the Sky with 14 and 10 points respectively. Vandersloot also rolled up 10 assists.
New York, which got double figures from a total of five players, never allowed its fourth-quarter lead to shrink to fewer than 6 points.
The Sky's former players who are now with the Liberty didn't hurt the Sky much. Cash, a starter for New York, was held scoreless and Swords had just 2 points in five minutes.
Prince did not play. She was just activated after missing the first month of the season due to international obligations she had in Russia playing in the EuroBasket tournament.