LAS VEGAS — All-Star weekend is about unwinding and having fun — something that can be lost, at times, during the heat of the season.
But the Sky will return to business as usual Sunday in Deerfield.
It’s officially “crunch time,” guard Courtney Vandersloot said.
“We only have 15 games left and we need a lot of them,” Vandersloot said Saturday after the All-Star Game. “We have to lock in and continue to get better, and make a playoff push.”
In order to make their first playoff appearance in two seasons, the Sky will need all hands on deck. They’ll especially rely on Vandersloot to turn up the intensity, which shouldn’t be a problem for her.
Vandersloot has historically played better as the season rolls on.
Last season, she put up momentous numbers after she was snubbed from the 2018 All-Star Game. She averaged 9.6 assists over the last eight games of the season, setting WNBA records for single season assists (258) and most assists over a four-game period (50).
Vandersloot, who’s averaging a league-high 8.5 assists this season, is prepared to do that again.
“It’s time to finish the season strong,” she said.
The Sky, who are 3-5 away, have a grueling road schedule for the remainder of the season, and will play nine of their remaining games on the road. They start with a trip to Connecticut to play the league-leading Sun out of the All-Star break on Tuesday.
But the Sky are ready for the challenge.
“We have to approach it by looking at ourselves and figuring out how much growth have we really accomplished,” guard Diamond DeShields said. “We know that and we’re just going to take it on together and I think we’re pretty prepared for it.”
Money on the mind
Pete Alonso, whose annual salary is $555,000, got to pocket $1 million after winning MLB’s Home Run Derby earlier this month.
Meanwhile, DeShields, who earns a fraction of Alonso’s salary playing in the WNBA, received a blank $10,000 to donate to the charity of her choosing.
Would DeShields have liked to keep the money?
In short, yes.
“The whole incentive to do the skills challenge ... was always to help the charity out, so I don’t have a problem giving the check to them,” said DeShields, who donated “Hoops2O-Waterboys,” an organization that raises funds and awareness for clean water initiatives in East Africa. “But it would be nice to get some sort of bonus attached to it.”
