Going into your first WNBA Draft as a new general manager and head coach, how did you prepare and decide on who you wanted to add to the roster?
This was a long process. The coaching staff and myself, we scouted, we did our due diligence. What we came to realize, what we thought from the beginning, even last year earlier in the college season, Katie Lou [Samuelson] was at the top of our board. It was a different scenario with Chloe Jackson because she kind of grew on us late in the process and her last game was like the cherry on top.
But, to go back to Katie Lou, I think she was at the top of our board from the beginning and we saw on some mock drafts where she fell, but we didn’t realize why, and maybe it was because she had an injury that held her out for a little bit. But, we saw the difference in the way the team played when she was out and it only reconfirmed how we felt about her. She’s someone that adds value right away with her skillset to a team. We think she’s going to be great in the league and we think she’s going to be great in Chicago.
What were some of those specific skills or elements you see both Katie Lou and Chloe adding to the team?
As far as Katie Lou, it’s the fact that she can space the floor so well. Basically, when you play her and somebody else has the ball, you’re actually playing four-on-four because that player has to play so close to her. She gives space and she adds value even to the other players that you have. She’s actually the one player in the draft that can play with every single person on our roster, any combination of players, and she doesn’t stunt the growth of any of the young players that we have. So I think that was the important thing for us with her and the fact that she’s smart, she comes from a good system, she takes care of the ball, she makes good decisions quickly, so that was really key for us when evaluating her and what she can bring to our team.
With Chloe, she’s someone you saw her as a steady point guard. We knew that she was changing positions and that was something she had to adjust in early in the season, but you saw her grow throughout the season. She was like the motor to that team that had talented players, so you never saw the players around her – Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox – really dominate because they had such an even-keeled team. I mean, they dominated as a team, and those players dominated in certain points, but when you look at Chloe, she did too. We said, “Ok, the other players are ranked higher than she is, but she’s the motor for that team.” And the championship game, it confirmed that for us. We said, “She’s a player, she’s a winner, she’s tough,” and so we made the call.
Wrapping up draft day, what do you see the Sky being known for this season?
That was one of our things – what do we want to be known as? Last year, we came into the offseason and we were last in defensive rebounds. We turned the ball over too much, we were last in that. We were last in a lot of defensive efficiency things, but a lot of that was because of the way we turned the ball over on offense. But, what I asked the coaching staff is; if we take this great defender or this great rebounder, will we be the best at that? And everybody agreed that we wouldn’t. We would improve, but we wouldn’t be the best at that. I said, “Ok, if we take the player that we want, would we be the best at something?” They all agreed. They said we would be the best shooting team or one of the best shooting teams in the league.
So, that’s what we’re going to focus on. We’re going to focus on spacing the floor and moving the ball, playing with rhythm, playing with pace, and we’re going to make you have to guard us. We’re going to make you have to guard us farther because we’ll be able to shoot the ball from multiple positions, so we’re going to be attacking closeouts. That’s what we want to be known as, an offensive team that you have to guard someone at every position.