{"id":667093,"date":"2026-05-27T01:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667093\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T01:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T01:16:10","slug":"new-year-new-kamilla-cardoso-sky-centers-surge-hints-at-new-pattern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667093\/","title":{"rendered":"New year, new Kamilla Cardoso? Sky center’s surge hints at new pattern"},"content":{"rendered":"

It looked like the play was dead. Sky<\/a> center Kamilla Cardoso had surveyed the floor looking for an open teammate. But now she was without her dribble, smothered by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith, still well outside the paint.<\/p>\n

She had a cheat code, though. When you have strides the size of Cardoso\u2019s, the basket is never really that far away.<\/p>\n

She ducked under Smith and stepped through for the layup, making it a perfect six of six from the field in the first half of the home opener.<\/p>\n

Her teammates rushed her at the next stop in play. You could see on their faces that specific \u201cI told you you could do it\u201d kind of joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was just really aggressive,\u201d veteran center Elizabeth Williams said. \u201cShe\u2019s able to dominate when she really turns it on. She\u2019s continued that over the last few games, so it\u2019s great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think she doesn\u2019t realize how good she actually is and how good she can be,\u201d Rachel Banham added. \u201cWhen you see glimpses of that, it\u2019s really exciting. We\u2019re like, \u2018Girl, you could do this a lot more often.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Now coming off three strong performances, Cardoso enters a crucial stretch for the Sky (3-3). The question: Is this the same old Cardoso pattern of inconsistency \u2014 flashes of greatness followed by frustrating lulls \u2014 or is she really going to, as Banham said, do it a lot more often?<\/p>\n

With her rookie contract expiring in 2027, Cardoso is on the clock<\/p>\n

Since being drafted No. 3 overall in the highly-anticipated 2024 draft, the Sky have been waiting on Cardoso. Not necessarily for her to arrive \u2014 she has arrived, in various emphatic declarations of talent<\/a>. It\u2019s more that everyone\u2019s been waiting for her to decide to stick around.<\/p>\n

The Sky have always envisioned Cardoso on a path to becoming one of the most dominant bigs to ever play the game.<\/p>\n

Now, with her rookie contract expiring in 2027, the grace period is over. No more excuses for the 25-year-old. She is finally surrounded by a highly competitive roster and an offensive system tailored to maximize her strengths.<\/p>\n

Which is why her start to the season was concerning. After a strong opening performance, she shot a combined 5-for-16 in the next two games. The team\u2019s positive runs tended to coincide with Cardoso on the bench. Williams better protected the rim and stabilized the offense.<\/p>\n

Then in Minnesota, something shifted.<\/p>\n

When star forward Rickea Jackson went down with a torn ACL, Cardoso responded with renewed hunger \u2014 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in the surprise win. She stopped floating. She locked in with more physical and active defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of people talk about my defense and say I\u2019m not very good at it,\u201d Cardoso told the Sun-Times. \u201cSo I took that personally and I\u2019m trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the next three games, her performance elevated. She shot 19-for-28 and brought her season stat line to 14.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, two assists and 1.3 blocks per game.<\/p>\n

The turnaround was helped by fixes to her technique around the rim. But the biggest change was to her relationship with time. Cardoso realized she has more of it than she thinks.<\/p>\n

Time to survey the defense. Time to wait for the right moment to attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I tend to rush my shots,\u201d Cardoso said. \u201cI just need to take my time and try to give them a second move. I think sometimes I was turning right into [the defense]. I needed to start giving them a second move and try to step through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patience translated to her passing, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got to stay calm and watch the floor and see where the double is coming from,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd find the open players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small changes. But they made a world of difference. Enough to turn someone who could have been on the trade chopping block by midseason into the kind of player you stick on billboards for years to come. That is, if she can keep it up.<\/p>\n

Cardoso\u2019s new habits signal a shift in mindset<\/p>\n

How do you know when you\u2019ve broken a pattern? Once it\u2019s established, you\u2019re susceptible to living in fear of it. Even during obvious moments of growth, you worry you\u2019re still in the thick of it.<\/p>\n

There is lingering evidence that Cardoso could be stuck. In her last outing against the Lynx, she poured in 17 points but still came up short on layups. Her defensive assignment, Natasha Howard, scored 22 points in the first half alone. Down the stretch, coach Tyler Marsh once again went to Williams to get stops.<\/p>\n

Marsh is honest: Cardoso hasn\u2019t yet reached the elite level of play he envisions.<\/p>\n

But her coaches and teammates do see a shifting approach.<\/p>\n

She is expecting more of herself. She\u2019s been staying late for extra practice and film sessions. She texts Williams to set up shooting workouts, and Williams is always excited to see her name pop up on her phone.<\/p>\n

Williams pointed to one particular payoff already: While Cardoso still scores mostly through layups, she\u2019s started using a lefty hook. It\u2019s a move she learned from Williams, one that Williams thinks will be unguardable once Cardoso perfects it.<\/p>\n

Maybe the best way out of a pattern is simply to build new ones.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sky have dropped two straight in part because of poor shooting.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus: Sky forward Azur\u00e1 Stevens makes her 2026 debut.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

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\"Chicago<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

If only the Sky hadn\u2019t traded away their 2026 lottery pick, the rookie sensation could\u2019ve landed in Chicago. <\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
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read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It looked like the play was dead. Sky center Kamilla Cardoso had surveyed the floor looking for an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-667093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}