Skylar Diggins urges Sky to drop ‘loser mentality’

Point guard Skylar Diggins said the Chicago Sky need “more maturity and more leadership” and to shake a “loser mentality” as the team lost 85-68 to the Indiana Tempo, extending a stretch that has seen it lose five of its last six. Coach Tyler Marsh took respon

Toronto — Nobody’s happy with how the Sky are playing right now. Especially not point guard Skylar Diggins.

The Sky, listed at 4-7, hadn’t said much about the team’s recent stretch that has included five losses in their last six games. But after they fizzled out against the Tempo, losing 85-68, Diggins offered a blunt look at what she thinks is going wrong.

Asked what needs to change about the team’s slow starts, Diggins didn’t hold back. “More maturity and more leadership. on and off the floor. the players on the floor. from the staff as well. ” she said. “More connectivity. If it was just versus one team I’d understand that. Now it’s … a trend of ours. It’s disappointing, it really is. It’s frustrating.”.

She stressed that the pace of the league isn’t going to ease up. “Games aren’t going to slow down. The teams (are) going to keep getting better and better around us. So we got to figure out how we’re going to turn this corner. This has been an extremely frustrating experience.”

Diggins’ frustration lands harder because the Sky’s next four games are against the Dream, Fever, Liberty and Wings. Two issues that have been showing up again continued Sunday: the offense stalled in the half court, and the Sky struggled to keep opponents off the boards.

Against the Tempo, the Sky shot poorly—35.4% from the floor and 24.0% from 3. Once again, they lost the rebounding battle.

When asked about the half-court offense, Diggins pointed straight to head coach Tyler Marsh. “That’s a Tyler question,” she said.

Asked about the rebounding, she was sharper. “Effort all around needs to go up, and we have to get out of that loser mentality that we have,” Diggins said. “‘Oh here it goes again, here it comes again.’ We pros. We have to all step up when you pros. Starting with myself.”

The words suggest something deeper than one bad quarter. After the previous game against the Sun, Diggins had voiced disappointment in her own play this season, saying she expected herself to “play f— better.” She did score 24 points and led the team to its first win in weeks.

But against the Tempo, the shooting didn’t follow through. Diggins struggled, scoring 7 points on 2-for-8 shooting.

Marsh, for his part, didn’t try to dodge the question about Diggins’ frustration or the first-quarter offensive struggles. He said the accountability starts with him.

“I’m not sure,” Marsh said. “I think it’s something we got to continue to look at as a staff. I think the accountability starts there. Starts (with) me and ends with me, honestly. I understand the frustration. There’s frustration across the board. Nobody’s happy with where we’re at. record-wise or how we’re playing. so I take the hit on that.”.

He added: “How we are playing is on me. This is my second year here, and we haven’t gotten the results that we are looking for. That’s what comes with being in this position. I take that. I accept that. I definitely have to get better. Our staff has to get better.”

The next question was whether Marsh and Diggins are aligned on how to move forward—because Diggins is describing a team stuck in a mental groove, while Marsh is describing a staff that has to find answers.

Marsh said they’re together on the direction. “I think we’re on the same page in terms of where we’re at as a team and where we’re capable of getting as a team. ” he said when asked if he and Diggins are on the same page. “I don’t think she would be in a Sky jersey if we weren’t on that same page. Obviously after a game like this and after how the last couple of weeks have gone. frustrations are at a high. We got to get together, we got to figure it out.”.

WNBA Chicago Sky Skylar Diggins Tyler Marsh Indiana Tempo Dream Fever Liberty Wings team chemistry leadership rebounding