PORTLAND, Ore. — After a delayed signing, Natasha Cloud has joined the team.
Coach Tyler Marsh didn’t want to rush her return, so the veteran point guard sat out the opener against the Fire. But she worked out in shootaround, and Marsh hopes she’ll be ready for Wednesday’s game against the Valkyries. She’ll have had a few days of practice by then.
Marsh is counting on her to bring her signature toughness and physicality.
“She pushes pace offensively,” Marsh said. “She’s someone that doesn’t necessarily need the ball. She can make plays for other people. She’s aggressive, attacking the paint and getting to the rim.
“But I think first and foremost it’s her approach to the game. She approaches every single day, every single practice, every single game with the same type of warrior mentality, and that fits right into the group that we have and what we want to be moving forward.”
That toughness up and down the roster was something that attracted Cloud to signing a one-year deal with the Sky.
“Nothing entices me more than playing with other people that love to approach the game like that, that’s going to get after people and not apologize for it,” Cloud said. “That’s what I’ve kind of been searching for.”
Like many on the roster, for Cloud, Skylar Diggins stood out as a big part of the appeal.
“She’s a dog,” Cloud said. “We’re only one year apart, but even from college, growing up watching Sky play — Sky goes hard. She expects everyone around her to play the same type of elite level, the same respect for the game, the same approach. That makes everyone around her better.”
The roster depth, which was a priority of the Sky’s roster construction season, was part of the draw as well.
“To be on a team that really values one through 14,” Cloud said, “and understands that everyone in this locker room collectively is what’s going to make us go.”
No timelines on success
Everyone wants to know how quickly this new-look Sky roster will come together. But the team is staying focused on the present.
“I hate putting timelines on stuff,” Cloud said. “I think things happen organically and naturally. With timelines come expectations and crazy narratives. So grace and patience are my keywords right now.”
Still, Cloud liked what she saw at her first two practices.
“What I felt today was that everyone knows what they’re doing, where they’re supposed to be,” Cloud said.
Sydney Taylor makes the team
Sydney Taylor, the Sky’s undrafted guard who made an underdog run to the final roster cut, recalled the moment she found out she made the team.
“I walked in there, saw [general manager] Jeff [Pagliocca] and Tyler [Marsh] with pretty serious faces,” Taylor said. “I was a little scared, not gonna lie. But as soon as I walked in there they lightened up and let me know I made the team.”
She then called her agent, her trainer and her family.
“My mom was like, ‘I knew it, I knew it. I had faith in you,'” Taylor said.