Chicago Sky
| Chicago Sky | ||
|---|---|---|
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| founding | 2005 | |
| history |
Chicago Sky since 2006 |
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| Stadion |
UIC Pavilion (2006–2009) Allstate Arena (2010–2017) Wintrust Arena (2018–) |
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| Location | Chicago , Illinois | |
| Club colors | light blue, gold colored | |
| league | WNBA | |
| Conference | Eastern Conference | |
| Head coach | Amber stocks | |
| General manager | Steven Key | |
| owner | Michael J. Alter | |
| Championships | no | |
| Conference title | 2014 | |
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The Chicago Sky are an American women's basketball franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association of Chicago , Illinois . It was founded in 2005 and started playing at the beginning of the 2006 season . The team colors are light blue and gold. The Sky have been playing their home games in the Wintrust Arena since 2018 .
The Sky are, unlike other WNBA clubs, not considered the sister team of the Chicago Bulls from the NBA . They have a different owner, different team colors and don't play their home games in the same hall.
The Sky were unsuccessful for a long time and only reached the playoffs for the first time in 2013 and the finals for the first time in 2014.
history
Foundation of the franchise (2005)
NBA commissioner David Stern announced in February 2005 that Chicago had been assigned a new WNBA club. On May 27, former NBA player and coach Dave Cowens was named Sky's first coach and general manager. The team name was announced on September 20th. In November 2005, a so-called expansion draft was held to put together an initial squad of players. Brooke Wyckoff of Connecticut Sun , Elaine Powell of the Detroit Shock and Stacey Dales-Schuman (who retired from active sport in 2005) were selected by the Washington Mystics , among others .
Moderate start (2006 to 2012)
Unsurprisingly, the Sky ended their first season in the WNBA with the worst record in the Eastern Conference . So the Sky had a good chance of getting the first draft pick at the WNBA Draft 2007 . In the lottery, they were awarded the third right to vote in the 2007 draft. The franchise selected Armintie Price from the University of Mississippi in the draft . The Sky started the 2007 season with a new head coach and general manager, as Dave Cowens accepted a job on the Detroit Pistons coaching staff . The Sky found a new head coach and general manager in Bo Overton early on. The second season in the WNBA was a lot more successful for the Sky than the previous one. This was mainly due to the fact that the Sky were able to keep the key players from the first season and further improve the quality of the team with the players selected from the draft. The Sky fought for a long time with the Washington Mystics and the New York Liberty for the fourth and final playoff place in the Eastern Conference. During the season, the Sky were in the coveted fourth place for a short time, but in the end the Sky were missing two wins in fourth place and the Liberty, who were the last team to qualify for the playoffs. When the awards were presented for the 2007 season, the Rookie of the Year Award went to the Chicago Sky for the first time for Armintie Price. On March 12, 2008, Sky announced that Overton had resigned as head coach and general manager. Assistant coach Steven Key took on both of his posts . In the 2008 WNBA Draft , the Sky opted for Sylvia Fowles , who, however, was injured in the block in the 2008 season and was out for most of the season. The Sky ended the season in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but they clearly missed the playoffs with only 12 wins in 34 games. The 2009 season went better for the Sky, which was largely on a playoff spot, in the end the Sky narrowly missed the playoffs again with 16 wins from 34 games.
First playoff participation (since 2013)
While the Epiphanny Prince and Courtney Vandersloot selected in the draft were initially unable to achieve a noticeable improvement in the sporting results, this changed from 2013 onwards when Elena Delle Donne signed on . Right away, they led the Sky to the best record in the Eastern Conference and the first playoff participation, where they were subject to the Indiana Fever in the first round . In 2014, however, Delle Donne fell out due to illness and Chicago only barely qualified for the playoffs. There, however, the team prevailed against the Atlanta Dream and the Fever and thus reached the final series for the first time, where they were defeated 0: 3 by the favored Phoenix Mercury . In the 2015 season , the Sky reached the playoffs for the third time in a row. As in 2013, they clearly failed there due to the Indiana Fever, which was poorly placed after the preliminary round. Also in 2016 the team ended the season with a positive balance and reached the playoffs for the fourth time in a row. There the team had a bye in the first round as the fourth best in the WNBA in the new playoff system . After a success in the second round, the team failed in the WNBA semifinals at the eventual champions of the Los Angeles Sparks . In 2017 the Sky failed prematurely after four playoff appearances in a row and in 2018 the playoffs were missed. In the 2019 season , the Sky played successfully again. You reach the playoffs as the fifth best team. Dorst failed in the 2nd round on the Las Vegas Aces team .
Venue
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The Chicago Sky played their home games after their establishment in the UIC Pavilion. The UIC Pavilion is located on the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) campus and is also home to the UIC university basketball teams, and for the 2010 season the team moved to the Allstate Arena . At the time, Allstate Arena was also home to the Chicago Wolves (AHL) and the men's basketball team from Chicago's DePaul University . The Chicago Rush Arena Football League team played there until 2012 . Before the 2018 season , the Sky moved to the Wintrust Arena . These again share with the DePaul Blue Demons from DePaul University.
Audience numbers
The team started with a very weak average attendance, which did not increase significantly in the following seasons and was clearly the weakest of all WNBA teams. Only after the move to another hall and the increasing sporting success did the audience average slowly approach the league average. In 2016, the average exceeded 7,000 viewers per game for the first time. However, with the missed playoff qualifications, the audience fell again. The move didn't change that. Due to the sporting increase in the 2019 season, the average attendance could be increased again and the Sky were above the WNBA average for the first time in team history.
Achievements and honors
Sporting successes
It wasn't until 2013 that the playoffs were reached for the first time, and in 2014 they made it into the WNBA final series for the first time in franchise history. In the 2015 season , Sky was able to achieve the best record in the Eastern Conference, but failed in the first playoff round
Individual awards
In spite of the low sporting team success so far, many individual awards have been won by Sky players.
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Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne was able to win the league's most important award once by a player on the team. Peak Performers The three current categories have been won at least once by a Chicago Sky player. Courtney Vandersloot was now four times the best passer in the league.
Rookie of the Year : Although the Sky did not yet have a number 1 draft pick, the award for the best newcomer to the league went to Chicago twice. |
Sportsmanship Award The award for the fairest player in the league has so far gone to the team from Chicago. Coach of the Year Award : The award for the best coach of the regular season went to Chicago for the first time in 2019. Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles has won the title of best defensive player twice to a Sky player.
Sixth Woman of the Year One player also gave the team two awards for the best complementary player.
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Season overview
Abbreviations: Sp. = Games, S = victories, N = defeats
| season | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | space | Playoffs |
| 2006 | 34 | 5 | 29 | 14.7 | 7th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2007 | 34 | 14th | 20th | 41.2 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2008 | 34 | 12 | 22nd | 35.3 | 5th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2009 | 34 | 16 | 18th | 47.1 | 5th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2010 | 34 | 14th | 20th | 41.2 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2011 | 34 | 14th | 20th | 41.2 | 5th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2012 | 34 | 14th | 20th | 41.2 | 5th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2013 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 70.6 | 1st, Eastern Conference | Conference Semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Indiana Fever ) |
| 2014 | 34 | 15th | 19th | 44.1 | 4th, Eastern Conference | Victory in Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Atlanta Dream ) victory in Conference Finals, 2-1 ( Indiana Fever ) defeat in WNBA Finals, 0-3 ( Phoenix Mercury ) |
| 2015 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Conference Semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Indiana Fever ) |
| 2016 | 34 | 18th | 16 | 62.9 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the 2nd round, 1-0 ( Atlanta Dream ) defeat in the WNBA semifinals, 1-3 ( Los Angeles Sparks ) |
| 2017 | 34 | 12 | 22nd | 35.3 | 4th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2018 | 34 | 13 | 21st | 38.2 | 4th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2019 | 34 | 20th | 14th | 58.8 | 3rd, Eastern Conference | 1st round win, 1-0 ( Phoenix Mercury ) 2nd round defeat 0-1 ( Las Vegas Aces ) |
| total | 476 | 212 | 264 | 44.5 | 5 playoff appearances in 14 seasons 9 series: 4 wins, 5 losses 20 games: 7 wins, 13 losses (35.0%) |
Trainer
| Surname | season | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||
| GC | W. | L. | GC | W. | L. | ||
| Dave Cowens | 2006 | 34 | 5 | 29 | - | - | - |
| Bo Overton | 2007 | 34 | 14th | 20th | - | - | - |
| Steven Key | 2008 to 2010 | 102 | 42 | 60 | - | - | - |
| Pokey Chatman | since 2011 | 136 | 67 | 69 | 8th | 5 | 3 |
Although the Sky is still a relatively young team in the WNBA, they already had a lot of different head coaches in a short time. The first head coach in the history of Sky was Dave Cowens , who gave up his post after the 2006 season and switched to the coaching staff of the Detroit Pistons . On December 12, 2006, Bo Overton , who was previously the head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, was introduced as the successor to Cowens. Overton also took on the post of General Manager of Sky. However, he resigned on March 12, 2008 as head coach and general manager. Steve Key was then named the new head coach and general manager of Sky. Key was Sky's assistant coach in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
Players
Squad of the 2020 season
As of June 28, 2020
| No. | country | Surname | position | Date of birth | Experience in WNBA |
college |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Diamond DeShields | Guard | 05.03.1995 | 2 seasons | University of Tennessee |
| 2 |
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Kahleah Copper | Guard / Forward | 08/28/1994 | 4 seasons | Rutgers University |
| 7th |
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Jantel Lavender | Forward | 11/12/1988 | 9 seasons | Ohio State University |
| 14th |
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Allie Quigley | Guard | 06/20/1986 | 11 seasons | DePaul University |
| 15th |
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Gabby Williams | Forward | 09/09/1996 | 2 seasons | University of Connecticut |
| 22nd |
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Courtney Vandersloot | Guard | 02/08/1989 | 9 seasons | Gonzaga University |
| 24 |
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Ruthy Hebard | Forward | 04/28/1998 | Rookie | University of Oregon |
| 30th |
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Azurá Stevens | Forward / Center | 02/01/1996 | 2 seasons | University of Connecticut |
| 31 |
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Stefanie Dolson | center | 01/08/1992 | 6 seasons | University of Connecticut |
| 32 |
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Cheyenne Parker | Forward | 08/22/1992 | 5 seasons | Middle Tennessee State University |
| 51 |
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Sydney Colson | Guard | 08/06/1989 | 6 seasons | Texas A&M University |
First-round voting rights in the WNBA Draft
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In the twelve seasons since it was founded before the 2006 season , the Sky had 13 draft rights in the first round of the WNBA draft . The franchise mostly had a draft pick in the first round. In 2012 the franchise did not have a draft pick in the first round due to trades, in 2007 and 2017 even two players could be selected.
The team from Illinois has never been able to select the first player in the draft. With Armintie Price (3rd 2007), Sylvia Fowles (2nd 2008), Kristi Toliver (3rd 2009), Courtney Vandersloot (3rd 2011), Elena Delle Donne (2nd 2013), Alaina Coates (2nd 2017) and Diamond DeShields (3rd 2018) has so far been able to select a player in second or third position in the franchise seven times. From those early draft picks, Price and Delle Donne lived up to their expectations and were named the best newcomer of the year after their first few seasons in the WNBA .
With Courtney Vandersloot and Cheyenne Parker , two players, who had been selected by the Sky in the first round of a draft, were in the franchise roster at the end of the 2017 season .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/ (February 8, 2005), WNBA Expands to Chicago
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/ (November 16, 2005), Chicago Sky Announces Expansion Draft Selections
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/ (April 4, 2007), Sky Select Armintie Price
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/, Dave Cowen Resigns
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/, Bo Overton named GM / Head Coach
- ↑ wnba.com/sky/, Steven Key Named GM and Head Coach
- ↑ Elena Delle Donne Named 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year. WNBA, September 20, 2013, accessed July 13, 2014 .
- ^ Chicago Sky Draft History. WNBA, accessed July 12, 2012 .
- ^ All-Time WNBA Draft Picks. WNBA, accessed November 30, 2016 .