Chicago Sky Season in Review: Taylor Soule
Recapping Taylor Soule’s limited (but promising) rookie season. Thoughts on her defensive potential, insane athleticism and more.
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.
Because of the allotment of minutes she got (53), Taylor Soule’s debut season doesn’t give us a perfect impression of how she’ll profile on the WNBA floor. One thing we can already get a strong impression of, however, is how valuable of a teammate she was for those around her in Chicago this season. We’ll have to speculate a little to truly understand her impact, but let’s do just that and take a look at the positives of the Virginia Tech product’s rookie season:
1.Vibes
If you’re going to spend much of the season on the bench, you better be someone that your teammates like. We can never know what goes on in the locker room or when the team is on the road, but the strong impression from watching games is that Soule was a very popular player with her teammates. She seemed to be pretty close with Robyn Parks — another popular, positive figure — and I tend to think that relationship can only reinforce for Soule just how tough it is to get and maintain a spot in the WNBA. Appreciating the moment when you’re there and embracing your role is a lesson that many of the Sky players (Kah, Lan, etc.) have already learned in their own way, and they’ll intimately understand the position Soule is in and appreciate the vibe she brings to the team even in the absence of consistent playing time.
While no one in the organization will be immune to the lows of a losing streak, there’s great value in a player who can keep teammates smiling even when the team isn’t in its best moment. Taylor undoubtedly hates being a part of losing too, but she can also understand that — with limited minutes — one of her biggest impacts on the Sky’s success was contirubting to an environment that kept everyone in the best spirits possible during the difficult periods.
2. Unselfishness
This was already underlined above but Soule’s unselfishness really shone through this season. Emre highlighted one particular play — in the Sky’s dominant home win over Seattle in late August — where Soule passed up a good look at a three to get Morgan Bertsch an even better look. As mentioned above, this shouldn’t come as a great surprise given the larger sample size we’ve seen from Soule at the collegiate level. For Virginia Tech, she was a player who had the capacity to contribute to the traditional statistical categories but was also more than capable of making the plays that almost no one notices to help the Hokies win. Their success came from a strong, well-rounded roster, but Soule’s willingness to go for loose balls, be a defensive nuisance, set good screens and do everything in between was a huge key to Tech reaching the Final Four.
We’ve not seen the sample size in the WNBA to really speak to just how well she plugs the holes for a team, but that’s probably a big part of the reason she made the Sky roster in the first place. Whether with the Sky or somewhere else, Soule will be on a WNBA roster next season because her attention-to-detail and ability to put ego aside make her the perfect player at the back end of a championship rotation. The energy and unselfishness she brings will only continue to serve her if/when her role in the W expands.
3. Athleticism
Soule looks like a good athlete, but the game tape at various levels shows she’s a great athlete. Her frame is perfect for blending dependable strength with a good burst of speed — both of which serve her very well on the floor. In the long run, I anticipate Soule being a regular player off the bench who serves as a stopper for a team with a strong defensive identity. I’m not sure she’s quite strong enough (yet) to reliably guard 1–5, but she’ll definitely be able to hold her own with ease against 4s in most (non A’ja) cases. In a role of that nature, her physical profile will perfectly serve Soule and those around her. Switching in the pick-and-roll won’t be a huge concern as only the quickest of guards would be able to get a step on her, and she has enough length to compensate in those situations as well. Beyond the speed and strength, Soule has some serious hops. In warm-ups late in the season, Soule started going at the rim in lay-up lines and nearly threw down on more than one occasion. I’m not sure where this will serve her game best (sadly, I don’t envision her throwing down posters on people in game) but being able to get up and contest shots certainly can’t hurt her game on the defensive end.
What I’m Looking for From Taylor Next Season:
More than anything, I’d like to see Soule back in a Sky uniform. Reason being, the attributes she brings — most crucially the unselfishness — undoubtedly contribute to a winning culture. In a year like 2023, that impact is probably most evident from her attitude and effort on the practice floor, but I have no concerns that her energy alone would make her a strong part of a WNBA rotation. The other aspect of Soule’s game that, for me, warrants keeping her around with the Sky is the well roundedness of her offensive game. I don’t think she stands out in any category enough to be a great scorer right now, but the floor is high enough at all three levels for her to at least chip in. With time (in Kah-esque fashion), maybe she can develop one level enough for the team to start looking to her to score in that area. With opportunity and confidence, the window opens to develop the other two levels as well. With the player we see right now, I don’t think that needs to be a focus as she can knock down open shots and is good enough defensively that there’s a path to minutes at the WNBA level.
In any case, the individual key for Soule is to play. Whether in Chicago or elsewhere, there’s only a certain amount of growth that can occur watching from the side. For year one, being an end of the bench player isn’t a big problem, but a good run of minutes in Europe should have Soule’s confidence at a level where she feels ready to take on a bigger role in year two. In all honesty, I think she’s just the type of player Spoon will be searching for, and there’s a lot of merit in fighting for minutes in Chicago next year. But if there’s a chance to jump to promised minutes elsewhere (Soule is an unrestricted FA), I would more than understand if Soule decided to take it.
