The Chicago Sky won 77-66 over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night. It was just the Sky’s seventh win this season, with Natasha Cloud leading the way with 11 points and six assists.
Still, after the game, Cloud spent some of her time at the postgame press conference talking about outside noise.
“We still would pick who’s in our locker room every single time,” Cloud said. “Adversity, it comes along the way, but it shapes you for your purpose. That locker room is connected. This locker room is together. This locker room, it shows tonight on the court that we’re playing to the people to the left of us, the right of us, and our coaching staff as well, as well as our GM. We’re all locked in. And so that’s going to continue to be. We’re not worried about that outside noise.”
Some of that outside noise came from Cloud’s teammate, Skylar Diggins. She was notified on Monday that she would be coming off the bench for Tuesday’s game.
Diggins posted on her Instagram account, “Now I’m coming off the bench? Cool.” And then she said in a video, “And the crazy part about it all is I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been so good and quiet. I’ve been so good and quiet.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Instead of playing on Tuesday off the bench, Diggins was a late medical scratch. Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he was notified by his medical team that she could not play before the game because of a right knee injury.
Diggins’ move to the bench happened after the Sky’s longtime point guard, Courtney Vandersloot, returned to the team after an ACL tear, and after inconsistent play from Diggins. When Vandersloot returned, The IX Sports asked Diggins what she had been told about how her playing time or role would change.
“I don’t think we went and delegated roles of this is what you do, this what you’re going to do. I haven’t been told anything. I haven’t been told anything about it,” Diggins said on July 1.
It was just a week later that Diggins posted on her Instagram. Marsh told media in Phoenix he would keep his conversations with Diggins private, but it’s clear something has been lost in conversations between the two.
How much could have been avoided with some open, if uncomfortable, conversations between the coach and his point guards?
During the Sky’s media day in April, Vandersloot addressed Diggins’ signing in Chicago and what that meant when they were both healthy enough to play.
“Skylar’s ability to score the basketball, I think, makes it so that we can really play together,” Vandersloot said. “She’ll hold it down at the point until I get back and then when I get back, we’ll share the position.”
Rep The IX Sports at your next game!
Shop the logo collection or special “Women’s Sports are Front Page News” collection now on Shopify.
Vandersloot is back. While she’s on a minutes restriction, she’s still shown flashes of being the point guard who led the league in assists for years.
Cloud, who has both come off the bench and started games during her time in Chicago, and the emergence of undrafted free agent Sydney Taylor as a potent scorer mean that the guard position is crowded in Chicago.
Diggins’ scoring has been inconsistent this season. She’s scored as many as 24 points and as few as three. Taking all of this into account, trying a move to the bench wasn’t an absurd idea.
The problem is with the lack of the very conversation she mentioned. When there aren’t clear definitions of roles, it can be harder for a superstar – or any player – to know what is expected of them, or how they can truly contribute.
The Sky don’t play again until Friday, when they will play the Los Angeles Sparks on the road. They will be able to show then if they can not just shut out the noise, but quiet it down.
