LAS VEGAS — Sky center Kamilla Cardoso caught the ball outside the arc with Aces star A’ja Wilson — arguably the WNBA’s best player — standing between her and the basket. Wilson’s hips were turned, however, and the lane was wide-open. Cardoso needed only one dribble to beat her to the rim and score.
Though Cardoso was only 5-for-12 from the field in the Sky’s loss Sunday, possessions such as that one stood out. Attacking space, as head coach Tyler Marsh calls it.
It has been a priority of Cardoso’s development this season. At 6-7, she always has been a force around the basket. Now the challenge is recognizing a simple but important truth: She is just as fast, powerful and smooth when she’s away from the basket as she is right next to it.
Learning to take up space has been a process throughout Cardoso’s career. In college at South Carolina, coach Dawn Staley wanted her to be more assertive, to tap into a monster inside she thought Cardoso didn’t yet know existed.
Marsh has seen flashes of that monster as a pro. But for a lottery pick and projected franchise cornerstone, Cardoso is sometimes deferential. After games, she often will sit beside forward Angel Reese at the podium, shrugging at questions and saying, ‘‘I’m just here for moral support.’’
Cardoso won’t be able to keep a low profile much longer. Reese’s future with the Sky is in flux, and Cardoso’s play had risen to a level that demanded more attention even before that.
Opponents were the first to adjust. Since the All-Star break, they’ve done everything they can to keep Cardoso from catching the ball on the block. They know that if she does, it’s a bucket.
‘‘Her and [Dream center Brittney Griner], they just know how to get to their spots,’’ Wilson told the Sun-Times. ‘‘And it’s like, ‘You cannot stop this.’ ’’
Cardoso ranks among the WNBA’s most efficient high-volume scorers, converting 53% of her shots. Still, she is somewhat ambivalent about her performance this season. She told the Sun-Times last week her year ‘‘could have been much better.’’
Though she thinks she can improve everywhere, she recognizes her play has surged since the All-Star break.
And it’s not just her scoring average — 14.6 points per game — that has climbed; everything else has, too. Her focus and attention to rebounding has improved. Her assist total has jumped to 3.1 per game from 1.7 before the break. She’s defending well in space and staying disciplined without fouling.
A big part of that development has been her coming out of her shell.
‘‘People can consider her quiet,’’ former South Carolina teammate Aliyah Boston told the Sun-Times. ‘‘But when she’s super-comfortable, she’s always cracking jokes, always laughing.’’
Her teammates have started to appreciate her one-liners and comic relief. Now when guard Rachel Banham makes goofy faces at her, Cardoso makes them back. They are, as one teammate put it, seeing ‘‘the real Kamilla.’’
That’s translating on the court, too. Cardoso has become more vocal in practice and in games, taking ownership of the defense as the eyes of the back line.
‘‘That’s something we talk about all the time: me having a better body language, energy, whatever the case may be,’’ she told the Sun-Times. ‘‘That’s something I’m working on.’’
Still, ‘‘the real Kamilla’’ probably always will have a little deference. When asked Friday whether she’s becoming a team leader, she said the Sky already had great ones.
Even in interviews, however, she’s speaking with more conviction. She told the Sun-Times that, no matter their record, the Sky are a ‘‘special group’’ that can finish strong.
‘‘That’s the good thing about basketball,’’ Cardoso said. ‘‘It helps build a sisterhood.’’
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