Small ball could work for Sky if injuries create extended absences

A week into the season, the Sky have been hit hard by the injury bug.

Coach/general manager James Wade responded to the loss of Isabelle Harrison, who’s out indefinitely after having surgery to repair her left meniscus, with training-camp player Morgan Bertsch. Now he’ll have to find answers during Bertsch’s and Rebekah Gardner’s absences.

Bertsch went down in the final seconds of the second quarter in the Sky’s 71-69 loss Friday to the Washington Mystics and was unavailable for the rest of the game. When she re-emerged from the locker room in the third quarter, she had an ice pack around her left ankle. Gardner had to be carried off the court in the closing seconds. She couldn’t put any weight on her left leg and had to be helped to the locker room.

Against the Mystics, Wade provided an entire half worth of answers by deploying a small lineup against one of the most formidable frontcourts in the league, and it nearly worked.

“The coaches, we’ve talked about [playing small] sometimes,” Wade said. “I wasn’t courageous enough to do it until I had to.”

The Sky’s ball pressure in the second half helped force nine turnovers, and Gardner was a big key. She had two steals and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.

Kahleah Copper was responsible for guarding Elena Delle Donne, but the best any defender can do is make her uncomfortable. Even with Copper getting deflections and forcing missed shots, Delle Donne had a game-high 25 points.

“I like what I saw,” Wade said. “Kahleah is long and tougher than a lot of people give her credit for. She can guard anybody one through five. We’re a versatile team. [Playing small is] something that if we need to do it, I’m not worried about doing it because we practice guarding mismatches. Now we just have to see how the playbook can complement getting Marina [Mabrey] back in the lineup.”

Mabrey was available for the Sky after missing their second game against the Phoenix Mercury with an ankle injury. The constant fluctuation of available players makes the Sky’s performance against the Mystics even more impressive.

The Mystics’ disruptive defense and the Sky’s still-developing chemistry, especially in their halfcourt sets, led to 21 turnovers.

After playing the entire third quarter, Gardner and Copper started the fourth on the bench. Wade kept his lineup small, opting for Robyn Parks instead of Alanna Smith, who was in foul trouble, or Kristine Anigwe, who played only five minutes.

Even with Wade going deep into his guard rotation, the Sky were able to tie the score at 60.

“I think it was really just the energy that the group brought for a period of time,” Mabrey said about the Sky players who started the fourth quarter. “We got in there, got a couple of stops, got out in transition, and the energy picked up from there with the crowd and the team.”

If Gardner and Bertsch are out for an extended period, the Sky showed against the Mystics, specifically in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, a glimpse of how they still might find success.