{"id":805780,"date":"2026-08-07T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/805780\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T14:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T14:00:10","slug":"sydney-taylor-knew-her-moment-would-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/805780\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Taylor knew her moment would come"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sydney Taylor isn\u2019t surprised by any of this.<\/p>\n

While the rest of the WNBA world puzzles over how the Chicago Sky discovered the 25-year-old guard, they\u2019re equally wondering why no one else noticed her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers that she\u2019s been putting up since she\u2019s been in our starting lineup, and the efficiency of our offense since she\u2019s been in the starting lineup, it speaks for itself,\u201d Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said. \u201cShe\u2019s grown from being just somebody that you have to worry about coming off the bench to now she\u2019s at the top of people\u2019s scouting reports and she\u2019s seeing a ton of attention and still able to produce and put numbers up and so I think that when they\u2019re game planning for for Chicago, it starts with her and Kamilla (Cardoso).\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor, who missed Thursday\u2019s game with a groin injury, is on pace to make the WNBA\u2019s all-rookie squad after going undrafted and spending the past two seasons playing overseas.<\/p>\n

She is averaging 14.7 points per game, which leads active Sky players since Rickea Jackson\u2019s season-ending injury, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and dishing out 1.7 assists per contest.<\/p>\n

So just how did the Sky discover the undrafted rookie?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Chris Poss<\/p>\n

Marsh said it was all in the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom her overseas seasons, there was just a natural way that she moved with the ball that we didn\u2019t really understand why no one had really seen her or looked at her,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cInitially we thought she would be great to have in training camp. Obviously, we didn\u2019t know exactly what we had in her, but we knew that she had something to her as she progressed throughout training camp…\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor scored 13.7 points per game with UMass before a grad season at Louisville. She got some interest, but no bites after the 2024 draft. Then, while playing with Kibirkstis Vilnius in Lithuania, she heard from a few teams about joining training camps, but couldn\u2019t leave her European squad midseason. In early February, the Sky told her they might be interested in bringing her over.<\/p>\n

So this time, she didn\u2019t re-sign, and after the 2026 draft concluded, she found a training camp contract in her inbox.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been at my best for the last couple years now, so just waiting for the right opportunity and giving an opportunity here in Chicago,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt\u2019s good timing. I had a pretty good season in Poland. Jeff saw me play a little bit, and he was happy with my play. They came, they let me come over here, and I\u2019ve been improving every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor impressed in training camp, and when Marsh and the rest of the coaching staff pulled her aside on the final cutdown day to tell her she made the team, she was a bit surprised. Not because she didn\u2019t think she performed, but because Chicago had so much depth in front of her.<\/p>\n

The Sky were ravaged by injuries, though. On May 27, she tallied 27 points off the bench in a high-scoring loss against Toronto. Then she netted 30 on June 11 against Indiana, another shootout where the Sky narrowly fell short.<\/p>\n

After that, Taylor was starting. She\u2019s averaging 18.4 points per game since then, including last week\u2019s 29-point performance against Las Vegas that included her game-winning 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly on, she was put in position when she was coming off the bench, she was put in positions where it\u2019s like we needed a spark, and she just needed to make something happen,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cThe more that her minutes have grown, and the more that her role has grown, she\u2019s done a good job of really identifying where she can fit in without disrupting the flow of everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her training camp invite, Taylor wanted to prove herself as a playmaker to get looks from WNBA squads. Her experience at multiple positions, though, has helped her ability to create scoring more than anything.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I got better with) playmaking and my versatility because overseas I was playing one through four at times,\u201d she said. \u201cI was playing a little bit of everything. I need to do everything out there as an American. Having that in my back pocket (helped).\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor is making $270,000 this season, the league minimum. She will become a reserved free agent in the offseason and almost certainly be due for a larger pay day.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not worried about that \u2013 yet \u2013 but instead focusing on how to be more than a one-year wonder.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll keep surprising everyone except herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I did what I had to do to be on the court,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they pulled me into the meeting and told me (she made the team), I was shocked, but I wasn\u2019t shocked at all as well\u2026 I knew I could be a playmaker on a pretty good team in the W, so that was my goal coming up to camp to prove that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site<\/a>, our podcast<\/a>, and our social media accounts on Twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n