Sky fix – The Chicago Sky entered Friday’s game against the Minnesota Lynx ranked last in the WNBA in defensive rebounding percentage, and coaches and players have spent the past week drilling the basics. Rookie Saylor Poffenbarger, signed to a hardship contract after a
When the Chicago Sky take the floor looking for extra possessions, it hasn’t been coming from the boards. Rebounding has hurt them recently. and the numbers the team carried into Friday’s matchup against the Minnesota Lynx were stark: they were ranked last in the WNBA in defensive rebounding percentage.
The Sky had been so guard-heavy that a rebounding slide was “predictable. ” but practice time this past week has been aimed at something more specific than diagnosis. Players and coaches focused on cleaning it up through practice and film sessions. working on the small. physical habits that turn a missed shot into a second chance.
Even being undersized doesn’t fully explain it. The Sky have struggled at rebounding even when they’ve used their two-big lineup. Players have pinned it less on height and more on the kind of effort that shows up in the chaos of traffic and contact.
“Rebound is heart and hustle,” forward Azura Stevens said last week. “There’s not a lot of technique to it. You’ve got to hit somebody and keep a body on them.”
In the early season, Chicago did get strong rebounding performances from its guards, with Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud providing something sturdier on the glass. The message inside the building is that more of that—more attention, more willingness to win contact—has to follow.
The Sky also moved quickly to add rebounding help on the roster. They signed rookie Saylor Poffenbarger to a hardship contract, in part because of the problem the team has had securing rebounds.
Poffenbarger averaged 6.3 rebounds during her college career, with stops at UConn, Arkansas and Maryland. After shootaround Friday, she framed the job ahead in familiar terms: “That’s kind of what I pride myself in: playing really hard, getting extra possessions, rebounding, playing fast.”
Her path to the WNBA has been unusual. Poffenbarger went undrafted but signed a training-camp contract with the Lynx. When she didn’t make their roster, she went back home to train in Maryland. She has said she is still adjusting to how quickly the league moves.
The Sky reached out to her Tuesday evening, and she suited up against the Tempo the next day—an abrupt jump that left little room to settle in.
“To be on a roster in the ‘W’ is difficult, so just embracing this, coming in and just playing really hard,” Poffenbarger said.
The injury report around the Sky has added another layer of strain. Rookie Gabriela Jaquez missed her second consecutive game with a knee injury, though she was able to participate in parts of shootaround, coach Tyler Marsh said.
Jaquez is the No. 5 pick in the draft last month. She injured her left knee May 17 against the Lynx. So far. her production has remained strong—she is averaging 11.5 points and 5.3 rebounds—numbers that. at least on paper. have made her absence feel even more consequential. Her rebounding average leads all rookies, and her scoring average ranks sixth.
After practice Monday. Jaquez described the hardest part of her situation in plain terms: “I think the hardest part for me is to just go from one season to the next really quick. ” she said. “It’s just a lot of games. . . . I love playing basketball. so it’s fun for me. but I’m also big on taking breaks in the offseason. Like, having a couple of weeks off to just not touch a basketball.”.
She had exactly 14 days from winning the national championship with UCLA to the start of Sky training camp, and the team workload followed immediately. Her 28.3 minutes per game ranks second among rookies. The team plans to reevaluate her early next week, a team source said.
Behind the Sky’s individual challenges sits a broader league-wide explanation offered by Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. She said protracted negotiations on a new collective-bargaining agreement delayed the typical free-agency and offseason calendar for players. leaving teams less prepared for the physical demands of the season.
“It’s not all the injuries, of course, but we didn’t have players that were in great shape, so it’s hard to all of a sudden ramp up,” Reeve said. “I think it had a little something to do with it.”
Even as the Sky look for quick fixes—more bodies on rebounds. more contact. more discipline—they’re still sorting through what happens when effort and availability collide at the same time. The next step is straightforward but demanding: turn rebounding from a problem into a priority again. while getting healthy enough to sustain it.
WNBA Chicago Sky Minnesota Lynx rebounding defensive rebounding percentage Saylor Poffenbarger Azura Stevens Skylar Diggins Natasha Cloud Gabriela Jaquez knee injury collective-bargaining agreement