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PODCAST: Nick Niendorf looks at the Chicago Sky at the quarter pole

By Howard Megdal

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 26: The Chicago Sky reacts to the play against the Washington Mystics on June 26, 2019 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 26: The Chicago Sky reacts to the play against the Washington Mystics on June 26, 2019 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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A breakdown of what’s worked and what hasn’t

Our Nick Niendorf is back with another edition of SkyCast!

In it, he takes a closer look at what’s gone on so far with the season, game-by-game breakdown.

For instance, here he is on the season opener:

“I had a lot of optimism for this team coming into the season. I saw a lot of things on this team that felt different from last season and seasons past and things that had me excited that this could be a team that could, could make a playoff push, at least be competitive. But after that game against the Minnesota Lynx, it did kind of feel like all the negative attributes of the sky that everyone knew about heading into the season because they’re the same negative attributes that have plagued them the two seasons prior. All those attributes kind of reared their ugly head. The skies offense wasn’t great. They turned it over a ton. Their defense was terrible. It was just kind of this conglomeration of all the ghosts and all the things that have plagued the Sky for the past few years. All those things showed up in this game.”

But there’s clearly been more positive than negative in a season where Chicago stands 6-4, solidly in the mix not only for the playoffs, but a top-two seed.

“They went from this team that was kind of just puttering along that was you know, intriguing because of how bad they were on the road and how decent they were at home. They weren’t great by the numbers and it changed the conversation. And it put them not among the elites but among the teams that seem like legitimate playoff contenders, and that’s what the Sky continue to be.”

Relive the best and worst moments of the Sky season so far, as Niendorf takes you through how it all happened, and what it presages for the rest of the campaign.

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