Colson return ‘like a breath of fresh air’
Sky guard returns after battling COVID, backs up Vandersloot
Sky guard Sydney Colson entered the “wubble” in Bradenton, Florida, last week after a tough two-and-a-half week bout with the coronavirus.
She was confined to her hotel room for a brief quarantine period, during which she had to test negative for COVID-19 three times as part of the league’s safety policy.
As Colson sat alone in her room, which overlooked the pool, she would watch her teammates have fun without her. But she didn’t have to wait long to join them.
Officials cleared Colson for her first practice of the season Monday.
“It feels glorious,” Colson said. “I just wanted to step outside, get some fresh air. I couldn’t open the window, all I could do is watch my teammates enjoy themselves and laugh, and I didn’t know what they were laughing about.”
Colson arrived just in the nick of time with the Sky (4-1) kicking off a brutal stretch in which they’ll play 10 games in 20 days, starting with Tuesday’s 82-79 win over the Wings.
Azura Stevens, Cheyenne Parker and Allie Quigley each scored 15 points. Courtney Vandersloot had 14. Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 26.
Colson played backup minutes behind Vandersloot, who averaged a near career-high 31.5 minutes in the first four games.
“It helps. We’ve tried our best to not run Sloot into the ground, but it’s difficult, especially when you play three one-possession games in the first week,” coach James Wade said. “So it helps give us another person who can put pressure on the ball and slow [opponent’s] rhythm down.”
Vandersloot said Colson’s arrival is “like a breath of fresh air.”
“She’s such a light and has such good energy,” Vandersloot told the Sun-Times Tuesday. “And when you have 10 games in 20 days, that’s the kind of player you want on the team.”
Colson will add another element to the Sky’s fast-pace offense. Starting her seventh WNBA season, Colson has played point guard her entire career and is known for being a high-energy, versatile guard who can help push the tempo and play both ends of the court.
“She’s comfortable handling the ball, she’s comfortable running the team, she’s aggressive, she’s a good defender,” Vandersloot said. “[She’s] somebody that when you [put her] on the floor, I think, good things are going to happen. I think we’ll have a really good rotation with her and I.”
Colson already has some familiarity with her new team. The Sky had weekly team Zoom calls before the season and she would tune into practice via Zoom.
Still, it’ll take Colson some time to adjust and find her rhythm.
Monday was her first time on a basketball court in months, she said.
She ramped up her conditioning in recent weeks after her most severe COVID-19 symptoms, including a cough and intense nausea, subsided. While in her hometown of Houston, Colson was running outside and doing cardio on the treadmill.
When she was stuck in her hotel room, she rode a stationary bike as the team monitored her heart rate.
Physically, Colson said she feels good. Truthfully, though, she doesn’t know how long it will take to get back into the swing of things.
“I don’t know, it’ll be different because this is a new team and I haven’t played with any of these girls before,” said Colson, who averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 assists off the Aces’ bench last season. “But I’ve always liked the way ... they played [last year], and I think it fits my style.”
Even with injuries and down seasons, the Bears know what they have in stars such as linebacker Khalil Mack, defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and receiver Allen Robinson. Those three are proven commodities, and barring factors beyond their control, they’ll be ultra-reliable and productive.
But coach Matt Nagy needs some new players to ascend to that level. That’s particularly true on offense, but the defense is filling some holes as well this training camp. As players work toward the start of practice later this month, here are five potential breakout stars worth watching:
It’s imperative that Montgomery blossoms in Year 2. He had a fine rookie season — second in his class with 889 yards rushing — but Nagy needs more. The Bears were thinking Matt Forte when they drafted him.
Whether it was poor playcalling, poor quarterbacking or simply that Montgomery wasn’t there yet, he averaged just two targets per game in 2019 and finished with 25 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown.
The top man in his role last season was the Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey, who had 429 chances (rushes plus targets). The Bears would love to get Montgomery 350-400 and see him do something impressive with it.
It’s hard to bank on any rookie, but Johnson has a winnable battle against Artie Burns, Kevin Toliver and Duke Shelley for a starting job. If he gets it, he’ll have the benefit of Kyle Fuller already being in place and the Bears having an overwhelming pass rush.
While it’s a near-guarantee that Johnson will struggle early in the season, it’s also reasonable to expect a promising cornerback to start showing his potential after the first month or so. That fits well with the Bears’ schedule, which figures to be lighter in the first half than the second. Bears could use a few more household names in the ranks, and might get them sooner than you think with these five CB Jaylon Johnson JASON LIESER BEARS BEAT jlieser@suntimes.com | @JasonLieser
over either tackle spot, if needed.
He’s only 26, too, so if new O-line coach Juan Castillo develops him into a solid starter, the Bears could get a long-term return on the one-year, $1 million contract they gave him.
Can someone really be a breakout star if he has already been to the Pro Bowl? Maybe not. So in Gipson’s case, since he already had a breakout season with the Browns in 2014, let’s call him a potential resurgent star.
He made the climb from going undrafted out of Wyoming in 2012 to becoming a coveted starting safety, but he’s on the decline until he shows otherwise. The Jaguars cut him three seasons into a fiveyear contract in 2019; the Texans then shredded his three-year deal in April after one season. The Bears scooped him up for the veteran minimum in May after he sat on the open market for nearly two months.
That said, he landed in a fortuitous spot. He’ll play with a potential All-Pro in Eddie Jackson, he has Fuller locking down one side of the field, and this will be the best overall defense on which he has played. Everything sets up in favor of Gipson bouncing back.