Chicago Sky Season in Review: Kahleah Copper
Tasked with a new role as face of the franchise in 2023, Kahleah Copper, once again, stepped up and delivered for the Sky.
Continuing through December 18th, I’ll have a weekly post reviewing one member of the Sky’s 2023 season each Monday. Each post focuses on three positives from the player’s season and one thing I’d like to see more of from them next year. Think of it like a (highly positive) end of season report card. You can view past reviews here.
As suggested above, these player season in reviews are meant to be a highly-positive reflection on each player’s season. But when we’re talking about Kahleah Copper, it’s actually challenging to be anything but positive. The 2021 Finals MVP took another jump this time going from star to superstar and reaffirmed her place in the franchise’s future by signing a two-year supermax extension that will keep her in Chicago through the end of the 2025 season. If I can give Kah any compliment, it’s that not too long ago the conversation would’ve been somewhat split between whether Kah was proving herself to the Sky in a contract year or the other way around. Pretty early in the 2023 season, it was clear that the Sky would be the ones proving themselves as we watched Kah’s latest ‘career year’ come together. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of an all-WNBA caliber season:
1)Three-Point Shooting
It was no secret that continued improvement (Copper jumped from 30% in 2021 to 35% in 2022) shooting the three ball was a priority of Copper’s entering the 2023 season. As is usually the case, Copper went above and beyond expectations and saw her percentage jump another 5% for a season mark of 40.4% on a career-high 4.5 attempts per game. Making improvement of this magnitude shooting the ball is impressive in any context, but it’s staggering when you consider Copper took 36% more three point attempts per game in 2023 than in any season during her WNBA career. Given her ability to hit from the mid-range, it’s no great surprise that Copper has the ability to develop a three-point game, but the rate at which she’s done so is a testament to her otherworldly work ethic. It also speaks to the fact that, while others were away in Europe, Copper was able to develop an off-season routine and process that supported her continued evolution as a player. Players in all sports talk about goals for the offseason, but it’s uncommon to see them make consistent 5% improvements year over year in any major statistical category like Copper has done.
Beyond strictly looking at the percentages, Copper displayed an obvious knack for hitting threes in big moments. We could look at her percentages in the clutch, but it doesn’t even have to be that specific. If you watched the Sky this season and Copper got a look from three when the team really needed it, she hit them at an alarming rate. Sometimes this meant killing an opposition run, other times it meant pushing the Sky’s run to a point where the opposing head coach had to take a timeout. Regardless of the reason, Copper hit a bevy of big threes over the course of the season when the team was in need. Moving forward, the Sky really just need Copper to hold steady in this department. Any further improvement from behind the arc would be a real luxury, but the Sky will be more than happy to keep feeding Copper when she’s hitting at or above the 40% clip. The only thing Spoon might have to consider is if Kah needs to shoot even more threes if the high percentage of makes continues. The argument against a higher volume is that Copper is arguably even better scoring in the mid-range and at the rim; so, even a well above-league average three-point game might be her “worst” offensive skill.
2) Defensive Versatility
I could’ve just stopped after defense, but we already know that’s Kah’s calling card. Consequently, I decided to hone in on this aspect of her defensive game which makes her such a great option as a franchise player for the Sky moving forward. We’ve seen Kah defending all over the court in bits-and-pieces, but it was her battles with Napheesa Collier late in the season that really caught my eye down low. Her lateral quickness, wingspan and instincts obviously make her the game’s best perimeter defender, but she doesn’t have as many tools to help her in the post beyond her height. Matched up against a sturdy big like Collier who — in any other year — delivered an MVP-type season would, accordingly, go down as a bit of mismatch for Copper. Instead, she took the match-up and did quite well holding Collier down in the minutes the two were matched up.
First and foremost, she did so with her activity levels. No matter where she is on the court, this is something you know Kah will deliver loads of. I don’t think she gets the credit she deserves for it, but Copper has to be one of the W’s most conditioned players — capable of easily playing the entire game with little impact on her productivity. Secondly, she’s willing to be a pest. One of the big tools she used against Collier was establishing post position between the Lynx forward and the ball-handler. Consequently, the Minnesota guards would need to throw a lob that could clear their defender plus Copper and yet still settle into Collier’s arms. This doesn’t sound that complicated in principle, but Copper is of a similar height to Collier and her long arms largely compensate for any difference in strength winning the ball in the air. By having the inside position, Copper reduces the number of passes that are even attempted (much less completed) to Collier. Less touches for Collier mean less contact Kah has to absorb defensively from a more physical player. The end result is that Copper — a theoretically disadvantaged defender — has leveled the playing field pretty considerably with one of the game’s best post players. Using one matchup as a microcosm for an entire season is often difficult, but Copper brings this same attention to detail every night. You can match her up with Jewell Lloyd (an MVP worthy player in her own right) on the perimeter or Collier down low, but Copper’s basketball IQ and desire to be the game’s best defender will help her find a way to win the matchup regardless.
3) Situational Basketball IQ
I was going to talk about Kah’s leadership here, but I’m not sure how much there is to say. I don’t know that she’s a 100% conventional leader (if you can even call that a thing), but I think Copper is exactly the type of leader most teams would love to have. She’s not adverse to speaking up and will do so as/when she feels it’s necessary, but she also has a great capacity to lead by example. One of the areas where I think she sets a really high standard for her team is in understanding the situations of the game. I sort of touched on this point above in highlighting her three-point shooting on the shots that “matter most,” but there’s so much more nuance to her reading of the game than that.
Take for instance, a comment Copper made earlier in the season about chasing rebounds. Kah mentioned, as part of a larger dialogue about the Sky’s transition defense, that one key to transition defense was knowing when to chase an offensive board and when to let it go. I’m not sure why, but that comment caught my attention, and I looked out for it in the games that followed. It may not come across on TV as well, but when you’re in the arena (especially upstairs) it immediately became apparent that Copper is making this calculation basically every time the Sky missed a shot. Say a Sky miss produces a long rebound, Copper — in position to go fight for the board — seems to have a sixth sense for what the coverage behind her looks like and whether the Sky will be exposed in transition. From the upper deck (and not in the heat of a professional basketball game), it’s pretty easy to see how the floor is laid out and determine whether it’s best to go for the board or not, but Kah is making these decisions in real time and at floor level. The judgement, I found after watching for several games, was almost flawless. That’s not to say the Sky never gave up transition baskets in the scenarios (that’s inevitable) but just that Copper never really went for a board that sold her team out behind.
This is something really small, but that type of judgement carries over to Copper’s global decision-making process and, in turn, her leadership of the team. When you’re a former Finals MVP and annual All-Star, the margins are very thin for improving your game and paying attention to these small details makes all the difference for taking your own game — and the franchise — to the next level. The Sky are in great hands with a player operating at this level mentally.
What I’m Looking for From Kah Next Season:
I can’t imagine anyone who watched the Sky last season would have many (or any) complaints about what Kah brought to the table. Consequently, the only thing I would say she can do is offer more of what she’s been so good at offensively. I talked about the potential to shoot more threes above, but I’m actually more interested in whether there’s potential to do more at the rim in whatever offense Spoon implements. When Kah goes to the basket, her ability to finish through and around contact is second to none in professional basketball. If you decide to foul her, she often finishes anyways and shoots free throws at a strong 77% clip regardless.
With all that said, I wonder if she couldn’t go to the basket more often. You obviously never want to become too one dimensional or predictable, but the Sky have good enough shooters and Kah passes out of her drives well enough to ensure that defenses can’t crash too much. Even when defenses did clog the paint, Kah still finished a great percentage of her drives. If I’m Teresa Weatherspoon, I’m fine having Kah do too much offensively and gradually dialing it back as needed. The bigger concern with a player of her caliber would be not involving her enough. Beyond that, the only concern with increasing her volume of drives is the physical contact she absorbs. From that perspective, I’m fine if the Sky (or Kah personally) wants to limit how often she’s going to the rim because there’s obviously a toll that comes with that. But as long as she feels fresh and capable of continuing to take on the contact, I see no reason why Kah couldn’t become an even higher volume scorer at the rim next season. In the context of her continued improvement and end-to-end dominance, the best thing Copper can do for the Sky is even more of what she’s doing now.