CHICAGO SKY Roster | 2008 Schedule Head coach: Steven Key enters his first season with the team. Purchase Sky tickets now! Fan Voice: Talk about the Sky! 2008 PROJECTED STARTERS: PG: Dominique Canty SG: Armintie Price SF: Candice Dupree PF: Chasity Melvin C: Sylvia Fowles 2008 DRAFT RESULTS: Rd. 1: Sylvia Fowles Rd. 2: Quianna Chaney Rd. 3: Angela Tisdale

Dupree

The 2007 season was Chicago's second as a WNBA franchise and featured a drastic improvement from the squad's 5-29 mark during their inaugural year. Still a young team, Chicago remained in the middle of the pack throughout the season and narrowly missed the playoffs despite a late surge that ended their season at 14-20.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

In only her second year in the WNBA, forward Candice Dupree continued to play well beyond her years down low. The two-time All-Star led the team in scoring -- averaging 16.5 points - and also paced the squad in rebounding (7.7 rpg). She also led the team in blocks with 1.24 rejections per game. Veteran center Chasity Melvin was also steady all year down low, averaging 9.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Meanwhile, Armintie Price turned in a terrific inaugural WNBA season, playing with heart and energy on her way to earning the Rookie of the Year award. At the starting guard position Price saw an average of 26.3 minutes per contest, posting 7.9 points and 2.9 dimes per game. Also an aggressive defender, she compiled 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest.

Price

Now-retired Stacey Dales provided the team with leadership and experience in 2007, playing a variety of roles and averaging 10.3 points a game.

WHAT WENT WRONG

While Melvin and Dupree were solid inside and Price and Jia Perkins showed flashes of greatness at the guard spot, Chicago needed more consistency and better shot selection. The Sky had the second-lowest field goal percentage in the league, making only 41 percent from the floor. Free throws were also an issue, as they only hit 68 percent of their freebies, the lowest percentage in the league.

The Sky were also hampered by inexperience. Despite the veteran leadership of players like Melvin, Dominique Canty, Brooke Wyckoff and Kayte Christensen, the young guns -- Dupree, Price and Perkins -- were relied upon heavily for offense. Price and Perkins in particular went through minor growing pains at times, but it will likely help them as they head together into the coming season.

Aside from Perkins, the bench didn't help out as much as hoped. While Cathy Joens, Stephanie Raymond and Claire Coggins were successful in their limited time on the court, their contributions were minimal.

LOOKING AHEAD

Fowles

Coach/GM Bo Overton resigned this spring, meaning the Sky will have their third head coach in three seasons in Steven Key. But Key, formerly an assistant with the Sky, has been with Chicago since its inception and knows the players well, which ought to make for a smooth transition.

Also aiding in the transition will be the Sky's No. 2 pick in the 2008 Draft, All-American center Sylvia Fowles from LSU. After leading the USA Basketball team in scoring during the squad's recent trip to China, he 6-6 center will likely step into the Sky's starting lineup immediately and become a go-to player in the paint.

In the second round, the Sky added LSU long-range bomber Quianna Chaney, who will likely earn plenty of playing time as she steps into Dales' role as the team's bona fide outside shooter.

The Sky lost Carla Thomas to the Atlanta Dream in the expansion draft, but Chicago's core players are all returning. And simply by being together for another year -- not to mention the additions of Fowles and Chaney -- there is little doubt that the franchise will be in position to build upon the progress it made last season.

Chicago did manage to retain Perkins -- a free agent and the team's energizer off the bench in 2007 -- but the team could stand to benefit from more depth in the backcourt.

There are no glaring holes for the Sky at the moment, but there are plenty of areas at which the team should see improvement if Key et al. hope to continue to improve and compete with the powers in the East.