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  "path": "/chicago-sky/2026/06/04/the-sky-need-to-get-their-spirit-involved",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-04T22:26:55.102Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>When <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky\" target=\"_blank\" >Sky</a> forward Maddy Westbeld was a junior at Notre Dame, she started working with a mind coach, who turned her on to the importance of being centered and present.</p><p>Meditation became a morning practice. Still half asleep, she'd make her coffee, then sit down to meditate.</p><p>\"I would always wait until I could feel my heartbeat, and then I would center the idea of: how do I feel, how am I feeling right now,\" she told the Sun-Times. \"And then things would come to the surface, different conversations, different stresses, different joys. So just kind of allowing it.\"</p><p>She liked the way the ritual heightened her awareness; she didn't want to sleepwalk through life. She's kept it up since then. Lately, while wrestling the impatience from a foot injury, she's been reading scripture, too.</p><p>She always prays beforehand, because she recognizes that she can't absorb the knowledge if she's not in touch with her spirit first.</p><p>That's one nuance about focus, or at least the ability to focus on something meaningful and difficult. You gotta get your spirit involved.</p><p>This is where the Sky — who have lost five straight and sleepwalked to 12th place in the standings — find themselves now.</p><p>They have two winnable games this week, at home against Connecticut and on the road in Toronto.</p><p>They're clear on what they need to fix tactically. But first they need to get their spirit involved.</p><p>When they opened the season 3-1, everyone around them could feel it. They had, in Rickea Jackson, something not every team does: a young talent asserting her stardom.</p><p>They had in Natasha Cloud, Gabriela Jaquez and Jacy Sheldon, a gritty guard trio, giving the Sky a kind of scrappiness that caught even top teams off guard.</p><p>Then the spirit left them. Jackson tore her ACL in Minnesota, interrupting her ascent. Jaquez missed a few games with a knee injury, breaking the chain on the perimeter.</p><p>They've been wavering since then. Not totally KO'd, by any means, but losing to less talented teams. Guard Sydney Taylor, who's been a bright spot through the skid, called out their distraction after <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky/2026/06/02/sky-cant-match-energy-of-mystics-youth-movement\" >losing to the lowly Mystics</a>. She said they were too focused on the officials to take advantage of the opportunities on the floor.</p><p>This kind of distraction, trailing off — it happens to even the best teams.</p><p>Last season, the Aces shocked everyone by falling out of playoff contention in July. But they rampaged out of the regular season, winning 16 straight and claiming their third championship in four years.</p><p>The challenges issued by their leaders were often cited as turning points. The group text MVP A'ja Wilson sent after a horrible loss — that if they weren't embarrassed with their performance, to not show up the next day. The film sessions where coach Becky Hammon demanded they look in the mirror.</p><p>But there was another moment, too. A players' meeting, where everyone expressed what they were really thinking and feeling, what really mattered to them.</p><p>Everyone got vulnerable.</p><p>It's not an easy thing to do. It's even harder as a group. But it can give way to spirit. Which can give way to a heightened level of focus.</p><p>That's what the Sky need.</p><p>The Sky have a lot of tactical adjustments to make right now. They need to crash the boards better. They need to sink 3-point shots. They need to take care of the ball.</p><p>But first, they gotta get their spirit involved.</p><p><b>Notes:</b><br></p><ul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" id=\"rte-037895f2-605f-11f1-9a96-c978b8534f0e\"><li>Jaquez returned to practice Thursday and is listed as questionable for Friday's game.</li><li>Point guard Courtney Vandersloot also returned to practice fully for the first time this season. </li></ul>",
  "title": "The Sky need to get their spirit involved",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-04T22:30:01.117Z"
}