There was nothing to see at Sky training in Deerfield on Friday. Nothing to see at all.
Notably, not another highly worrying moment for All-Star guard Kahleah Copper, who definitely didn’t fall to the ground in pain clutching the area of her right ankle like she did in Game 1 against the Liberty and less than 24 hours earlier had The Sky must win Game 2.
At least that’s what coach and general manager James Wade told the handful of members of the media, who absolutely hadn’t seen the whole thing unfold from about the range of a three-point shot from their vantage point.
“Nothing is wrong,” Wade said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, so…”
So… that means Copper will be in the lineup at Wintrust Arena on Saturday morning when the defending champion attempts a mismatched face-plant in the first round in an unexpected 1-0 hole in a best-of-three series to be avoided by a team that had the best record in the WNBA at 26-10 during the regular season?
“Nothing happened,” Wade said.
Right. Because it’s not like we saw anything.
Oh wait a minute. When I think about it, we did it.
This goofy, unnecessary back-and-forth went on for a while, with Wade alternating between “She’s fine” and “We’re fine,” until it almost started to sound like things were — wait — fine. Except if they’re not, not if Copper, a demolition talent without which the Sky might not escape from the first round, let alone pull off a regular rerun, they’ll eventually have to watch from the sidelines.
The Sky later on Friday issued an injury report that didn’t include Copper’s name, a questionable move to say the least. But the pressure is making people say and do strange things, and make no mistake – there’s pressure on Sky, which is presumably not as keen on dealing with the business end of one of the biggest post-season disruptions in history of the league.
Under the WNBA’s new postseason format, first-round series have replaced single-elimination games. This is an exciting development that makes the kind of first-round surprises inevitable that no one ever sees coming. They don’t happen often, at least not in other leagues, but when they do, they’re dramatic and unforgettable – and certainly not good for the Goliaths who, like the 16-20 Liberty, fall to Davids.
In the NBA, only five first-seeded and five second-seeded first-round series have lost. One of those No. 1s was – pain alert – the Bulls of 2012, who went down in six games against the 76ers after Derrick Rose tore his cruciate ligament in the series opener. More ignominiously viewed by Chicago fans are the 1986 Bears, defending Super Bowl champions who won 14-2 in the regular season but were eliminated 27-13 by the wildcard Redskins at Soldier Field, and the playoff Blackhawks of 2016 and 2017, who were eliminated in the first round right after Stanley Cup glory in 2015. The 2017 Hawks were swept as the No. 1 seed by the fast, determined Predators happily shoveling dirt on a dynasty.
A Sky rerun would likely get local fans excited about the WNBA like never before. A one-series-and-done arc would be a bitter epilogue after last year’s title run out of nowhere.
“I don’t think we have our backs to the wall,” Wade said. “We just have to play basketball. Nobody dies, so we’re fine. We just have to play. I don’t put anyone under pressure.”
He does not have to. Pressure set in in Game 1 and the sky receded as the Liberty dazzled with a 13-0 finish in a 98-91 win.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” said star Candace Parker.
After scoring just four points in Game 1 — there’s no way an All-Star can behave — Emma Meesseman at least acknowledged the existence of the obvious.
“I think there’s definitely pressure,” she said, “but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It will just mean that everyone is more involved. Of course we were already motivated, but there will also be something like a certain extra.”
Use pressure to your advantage? It might just be crazy enough to work.
“I think everyone focuses on results when you have your back against the wall, but for me it’s about going out and playing and competing,” Parker said. “If we go down, then we’re going to go down a certain way – we’re not going to go down passively, we’re not going to go down aggressively. … We have to play properly and then we’ll live with the results, whatever that is.”