After a devastating Courtney Vandersloot injury, the Chicago Sky need to pick up the pieces quickly

Saturday was a day made for Courtney Vandersloot.

The Chicago Sky franchise icon, who helped the team rise to a contender in 2015, weathered the storm through low points and was a catalyst for a championship-winning team in 2021, earned the right to run point for this team at the United Center.

Vandersloot directed the team for the first four minutes and 31 seconds of the game. Then, she was being carried off the court with an apparent severe knee injury.

"When Sloot went down, it took the energy out of the building," Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said. "And out of us."

That was evident in the Sky's 79-52 loss to the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever.

Chicago's offense was directionless and that led to stagnant play. No Sky player recorded double figures in points and the team was held to one of its lowest offensive outputs in franchise history.

If it wasn't obvious, this team needed Vandersloot.

"(Vandersloot's) Our engine," Marsh said. "She's our captain and our leader out there."

What's next:

This is the question the team needs to figure out before it plays New York on Tuesday.

This team cannot replace Vandersloot. It needs to do something, though.

"We all got to step up and be better and that starts with me," Marsh said. "I got to be better for our players."

But the question isn't "How do the Sky replace Vandersloot?"

The question is "Where should the Sky start?"

"It's heartbreaking to watch anybody but especially one of your teammates and someone who means so much to us as Sloot does," guard Hailey Van Lith said.

Immediately, the page turns to Van Lith. She was drafted with the idea she would be the heir apparent to Vandersloot at point guard. That might have come now, as opposed to later.

Van Lith played 25 minutes on Saturday, scoring seven points and grabbing two rebounds. She's a few months removed from playing in the Elite Eight, the WNBA atmosphere shouldn't phase her.

She needs to find a way to step up to the league's physicality, though.

This rings the most true after the Fever delivered a body shot to the Sky, and the Sky never got back up. This was before Vandersloot's injury, too.

"They out-toughed us," Sky forward Rebecca Allen said. "We didn’t punch back. That’s something that we never want to feel again."

When the Fever imposed their style of basketball, and the Sky's response was a directionless offense. They settled for shots and never had efficient movement. 

Marsh said the team lacked that direction when Vandersloot left the game. The team needs to find someone who can be the conductor for Marsh's offense.

The offense was clicking when it found its stride against Dallas.

That offense also had Vandersloot, and can't be counted on to be replicated now.

The other side:

Point guard Moriah Jefferson could help, but she's still recovering from a leg injury. It's going to be Van Lith's show. Marsh has to help her direct this team.

That might include lineup changes, or changes in how he uses stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. There's no doubt Van Lith has the talent. The team has to do its best to stoke her confidence if she's elevated to the team's starting point guard.

This could be a team effort, which Allen knew whatever response to Vandersloot's injury would be.

"We've all got a responsibility," Allen said. "Everyone needs to step up with Sloot out. Today we didn't do that for her or for each other."

There's still a chance the team can find a stride. They played winning basketball against the Dallas Wings. The team's takeaway was it can win when it gets into rhythm.

Finding that rhythm is key, especially when the team wants to make sure the lasting footnote from Vandersloot's return to the Sky isn't a devastating injury. Rather, it's something the team rallied around.

"Whatever's in store for the future of this team," Van Lith said, "We'll make this moment mean something in the end."

SkySports