When will Hailey Van Lith move into Chicago Sky's starting lineup? Rookie focused more on slowing things down.
Hailey Van Lith doesn't want to worry about her role.
The Sky rookie arrived in Chicago with simple expectations of spending her debut season learning the point guard position behind veteran Courtney Vandersloot. But those plans fell apart within weeks when Vandersloot suffered a season-ending torn ACL on June 7 that disrupted the entire roster.
In the immediate aftermath, Van Lith seemed poised to step into the primary point guard role far earlier than she — or the Sky staff — expected. She has continued to come off the bench, but her minutes have steadily climbed as she absorbs responsibilities from veterans Kia Nurse and Rachel Banham.
That might seem like a sign of an upcoming promotion. But for Van Lith, the starting lineup is the least of her concerns.
'If I'm playing the way that I feel like I need to be playing, who cares if I come off the bench my rookie year?' Van Lith told the Tribune. 'It's very rare for rookies to start. And honestly, for me, if I changed my mindset from being off the bench or a starter, it would get me in some trouble regardless. I'd start heading down a path I won't want to go.
'If it happens, that would be awesome. But I just want to play.'
From the start of the season, coach Tyler Marsh emphasized the importance of building strong habits — and not falling into bad ones — as the centerpiece of rookie development.
But that doesn't mean the starting role is out of reach for Van Lith. Marsh believes she's on a path to winning the job by the end of the season.
'She's handled the minutes that she's had very well,' Marsh said. 'She's handled the pressure well. She's been able to feel that presence when we needed her to and she's been coachable.
'For us, it's been about continuing to find what units work the best together and have the most cohesion, so we'll continue to learn that moving forward.'
Finding that cohesion relies in part on Marsh establishing the specific style of guard play that fits both Van Lith's skills and the Sky's needs.
Position was the question mark looming over the last two years of Van Lith's college career. She struggled to adapt to the responsibilities of playing the point at LSU in 2023-24, then settled back into her comfort zone off the ball this past season at TCU.
But when the Sky drafted Van Lith with the No. 11 pick, they had a clear vision for her to grow into the backup point guard role behind Vandersloot.
This time, Van Lith bought in. She says she now sees herself as a one rather than a two, a major departure from how she previously identified herself. But she's also still developing the on-ball skills necessary to hold down the point in the WNBA.
The learning curve was steep in the early weeks of the season. Defenders draped themselves over the 5-foot-9 Van Lith the moment she crossed the half-court line and peppered her with jabs at the ball far behind the 3-point arc. If she broke out of that initial pressure, Van Lith often found herself running straight into teammates.
Van Lith hasn't let herself be goaded into too many mistakes, averaging only 1.3 turnovers per game — the fewest of any Sky guard besides Banham. But she also hasn't developed into a high-volume playmaker, matching those turnovers with 1.3 assists per game.
If she's going to take command of the Sky offense, Van Lith has to get comfortable at the point of attack.
'I am strong, I can use my strength, I can be physical,' she said. 'They're trying to swarm me because they know I have small spaces sometimes. And that's all on me to either get the ball out of my hands or learn how to handle it.'
Teammates such as veteran guard Ariel Atkins aren't worried about the defensive pressure — or Van Lith's ability to handle it.
'It's like a shark,' Atkins said. 'They smell blood when they see a rookie.'
And as Van Lith has grown this season, she has begun to realize the best advice on the ball runs counter to her natural instincts.
'When I first came in, I felt like I had to run at a sprint to everything,' she said. 'Yes, it's faster tempo. Yes, the windows are smaller. But you can still play at a slower pace if you need to. I've slowed down my own pace to make better reads.'
On Sunday in Connecticut, everything started to click for Van Lith, who posted 16 points, five rebounds and one assist in a 78-66 win over the Sun.
Van Lith never had scored in double digits in a WNBA game. Yet she was encouraged by how mundane the performance felt.
'It wasn't like I really did anything crazy,' she said. 'I just made reads and played solid. So it's exciting to know that it's very repeatable. It gives me motivation — like that wasn't even my best game ever.'
She followed it up Tuesday with five points and one assist in 26 minutes in a 79-72 home loss to the Washington Mystics. But if Van Lith can start to repeat performances like Sunday's, it likely would be a question of when — not if — she's due for a promotion into the starting five.
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