Training camp is a race to lay the foundation. The Sky have five days until their first preseason test against the Mercury.
And, so far, the reports out of camp sound good. Players and coaches are using the kinds of words you want to hear: “Competitive.” “High energy.” “Locked in.”
There has been a lot of teaching from coach Tyler Marsh, and many new students. Not a lot of time to study the notes.
“The [WNBA] is very accelerated,” guard Skylar Diggins said Sunday on Day 1 of camp. “ ‘Hi, nice to meet you. Now get over there and set me a screen.’ ”
That cadence is true across the league. Some teams — the Liberty, Aces and Dream — have the luxury of returning their cores.
The Sky are not one of them.
Of the players present for the first two days of camp, only three — guard Hailey Van Lith, forward Maddy Westbeld and guard Rachel Banham — shared the floor in 2025. The rest will have to learn about each other on the fly: Diggins. Returning forward/center Azura Stevens. Forward Rickea Jackson. The players who represent the future of the team.
Luckily, they have some touchpoints. Diggins played alongside Banham in the Unrivaled league this past winter and with Stevens as members of the Wings. Jackson and Stevens overlapped with the Sparks and in Unrivaled.
Maybe that will speed things along.
What’s working against them is the usual training-camp chaos: overseas commitments and injuries. Star center Kamilla Cardoso, who spent the offseason playing in China, has not yet reported. Veteran center Elizabeth Williams just finished her EuroLeague season. Both are crucial — Cardoso for her breakout potential, Williams for her leadership.
Stevens is managing a stress injury in her knee. Guard DiJonai Carrington underwent a follow-up procedure after foot surgery last year and is likely to miss multiple weeks, although no official timeline has been given. Veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot is still rehabbing her knee.
That’s a lot to manage for Marsh, who’s entering his second season with a roster that looks better on paper than last year’s but still needs to jell. And the injuries are likely bringing back bad memories. Last season unraveled quickly when Vandersloot tore her anterior cruciate ligament. Other injuries piled up — star forward Angel Reese, guard Ariel Atkins — and the Sky finished at the bottom of the WNBA.
The rough start to Marsh’s head-coaching career doesn’t seem to have changed him too much. He still brings the same presence — even-keeled, steady, rarely too high or too low. But there are small shifts. A little more edge in his post-practice huddle speeches. A clearer awareness of what can go wrong.
Maybe the most noticeable change is how Marsh is now talking about load management. He has been deliberate, even in the first two days of camp, about protecting his veterans — Diggins, especially.
“We’ve got to keep her healthy,” he said. “We’ve got to manage her load from a training-camp standpoint so that she feels fresh going into the regular season.”
It’s the right lesson from last year, learned the hard way.
“We’re not naive to think this season won’t have any type of adversity,” Marsh said. “But we’re enjoying the moment right now. We’re trying to get cohesion and chemistry together in a short period of time, just like every team.”
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